Only in America
by Midna Azusa
Summary: Sequel to Who's Wedding is it, Anyway? Asuka's not getting married, but that doesn't mean she knows how she feels about Judai. Is a school full of delinquents really the best place to figure it out? Fianceshipping. WARNING: OCs, slight OOC.
1. A New Adventure

**Well, as promised, for those who actually wanted a sequel to _Who's Wedding is it, Anyway_, here it is! The first chapter. Enjoy! Shadgirl2 and I don't own Yugioh GX. I don't own the plot, but Shadgirl2 does.**

Asuka sighed; so her wedding had been crashed for the second time in about as many weeks. Well, she couldn't say she was particularly upset about it, but she still wasn't sure exactly what she thought of Judai, that fun-loving duelist who apparently had a serious crush on her. She also wasn't sure if he was seriously getting advice from her idiot brother about love or not—that one she would be happy to keep a mystery.

She was planning on heading back to Duel Academy since she wasn't getting married. After all, it was the middle of the school year. Winter break would be in a few weeks, and she was only here because she was supposed to be getting married. So, she might as well cut her vacation short and head back to work.

Before she could even start packing, her phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, she saw that it was her boss, Mr. Samejima.

"Hello, sir! How are you?"

"Hello, Miss Tenjoin! I'm doing fine. Thanks for asking. Listen, I've got a favor to ask you..."

"A favor?"

* * *

Meanwhile, in Sho's apartment, Asuka's worst fears were coming true—Judai was getting love advice from Fubuki.

"Okay, first off, it's been a few years since you two have seen each other, and a lot can change in such a short time, as you might have noticed from the _two_ weddings she almost had! So, the first thing to do is to sit down and talk. You know, get caught up! I suggest you ask sissy to have coffee with you," Fubuki said.

Judai scribbled that down on a notepad; he didn't want to mess up, so he was taking notes for the first time in his life. "Coffee, huh?"

"Yup!" Fubuki said with a smile. "That's the best way. Then, while you're out, you can catch up. Or talk about old times. It's a perfect place to start! Then if it goes well, ask her on a real date! Got it?"

"Okay, got it. Thanks, Fubuki!"

Yubel's snide remark in Judai's head was unwarranted, but accurate: _"Yes, you wouldn't want to do anything stupid and blow it, would you?"_

The door opened as Sho came home from another date with Junko. They had been on a couple of other dates since that first one, and Sho was less nervous before each one; this time, Judai didn't have to step in at all—Sho managed to calm himself down.

"Okay, I know I'm in love now!" Sho said, his feet off the ground, like they usually were when he came back from a date with Junko. "She even laughed at Fubuki's stupid jokes!" Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Sho Marufuji had asked Fubuki for advice with his girlfriend! "She likes me! She really, really likes me!"

Fubuki smiled, gesturing to Sho. "And, there ya go! Take my advice, and you'll be as happy as Sho!"

Just then Sho started floating toward the open window. Judai grabbed his foot.

"Sho!" he said. "I'm gonna eat your fried shrimp, okay? And then I'm gonna trade your house for this really awesome card I saw!" Judai wasn't really going to do that; he was just trying to get Sho back on the ground.

"Aniki! Don't even joke about doing that!" Sho said angrily, right before falling on top of Judai.

Judai, lying on the floor under his friend, looked at him and grinned, saying, "Good, you're back. How was Cloud 9?"

Sho blushed. "A-Aniki..."

"Anyway, Judai, now it's your turn!" Fubuki said from where he still sat at Sho's kitchen table. "Go find Asuka and invite her out!"

"Right, okay!" Judai ran out to go see Asuka.

* * *

Asuka was packing up. It was about time she left, but she hadn't been expecting to be sent to another school! _Oh, boy. Is it really _that_ bad?_

There was a knock on the door. "Asuka!" Judai's voice called. "You there?"

"Oh! Judai! It's open!" she called.

Judai walked into the hotel room. "Hey, I was wondering..." He trailed off, seeing the open suitcase sitting on the bed. "You going somewhere?"

"_Well, that's a stupid question! She doesn't _live _in the hotel, Judai!" _Yubel answered.

"I've been asked to go to the American Duel Academy to deal with some problem students," she answered.

Judai deflated. "Oh..."

"Why? Is something wrong?" Asuka asked.

Shaking his head, Judai said, "No, I was just hoping that we could hang out. But, if you can't, that's okay."

An idea struck Asuka. "Well, why not come with me?" she asked. "You used to be a 'dropout boy,' after all. And who better to teach an 'army of trouble-makers' right from wrong than the number one trouble-maker, right?" She was teasing about Judai being a major trouble-maker—she just wanted him to tag along.

Judai grinned. "Hey, that sounds great! The American Duel Academy, huh?" He looked up for a moment, apparently thinking about it. "Sure, I'd love to tag along!"

"Great! Because it sounds like I may need some help with this one."

"How bad could it be?" Judai asked, shrugging.

* * *

Judai didn't have any idea. At that moment, a woman with black hair was tied up on the couch in one of the student's rooms at the American Duel Academy in Texas. A teacher at the school, Midori Hibiki was wishing that she had never left Japan.

"Honestly, Sam!" she said. "So I gave you an F! You don't even _try_ to pass! This is ridiculous!"

A boy with purple hair and brown eyes, Sam, answered in a heavy German accent, "Look, I'm the son of an important game designer! If I fail, so does my whole company! Why can't you understand that and just take the bribe already!?"

* * *

"The American Duel Academy!?" Sho asked, seemingly freaking out. Judai had just told him that he would be accompanying Asuka to the aforementioned school, and the blunette wasn't taking it well.

"Yeah," Judai answered. "Asuka's been called in to help out. I guess things are pretty crazy over there right now."

Sho nodded. "Yeah, I've heard from Junko that it's dangerous to teach there. She just left last year for her own safety. But I didn't think that was true!"

"Huh?" Judai cocked his head. "Why's it dangerous?"

"Apparently the students are running the show. Ever since a boy named Sam Lloyd got there, the whole class has been following him like a pack of wolves. They do anything he says, even skip class. Or assault a teacher. Even the principle has lost control over the students!"

Judai's eyes widened slightly. The students would attack a teacher? Like, say, Asuka? Now there was no way she was going alone!

"Huh. That's not good... So that's what Asuka's supposed to help with."

"Aniki, don't go! It's too dangerous! You guys can't go!"

"Well, Asuka's going, and I'm not letting her go alone," Judai said. "So I'm going."

"Arg... Then I guess you can count someone else in, too..." Sho looked annoyed. "I can't let you guys go alone!"

Judai smiled at his friend. "Thanks, Sho, but we can handle it."

Ignoring Judai, Sho pulled out his phone, saying, "Let's see, Manjoume or Johan...who should I call first?"

"Sho!"

Sho dialed Manjoume's number. "Hey, Thunder? It's me. Listen..."

Judai groaned as Sho told Manjoume what was going on. _Everywhere I go, Sho goes,_ he thought. _How could I forget that?_

"So, you'll go with them? Great! They could sure use the help!" Sho said to Manjoume. "Okay, see ya soon!" He hung up, turning to Judai. "Manjoume's going, too."

Judai thought about this for a second before asking, "Okay, why are you sending the guy I _just_ got Asuka away from with me and Asuka?"

"Oh, not just him!" Sho said, dialing another number. "You two could use all the help you can get, so..."

Judai looked at Sho questioningly.

"Johan! Great! Can I ask you a favor? See, Aniki and Asuka are going to the American Duel Academy, and they're gonna need some help. Think you can go with them?" There was a momentary pause before, "Me!? Well, it's kinda dangerous, so... Uh-huh... Yeah, well..." Sho sighed; apparently Johan was winning the argument. "Okay, I'll go, too... Great. See you soon. Bye."

_What was that about?_ Judai wondered. _Could it be Sho was planning on...?_

Sho put his phone away, mumbling, "Well, he does have a point... Okay! I'll go, too, then!"

That answered Judai's question. Still, he thought he'd better ask, just to be sure. "Wait, so, were you _planning _on going or not?"

Sho blushed. "Uh, well..." He laughed nervously. "Anyway, we should get ready!"

With that, Sho ran off to pack.

Judai stared after him for a moment before muttering, "So he _wasn't_ planning on going, huh? How bad _is_ this school?"

It was slightly worrisome that Sho would think this place is too dangerous to go with Judai when Judai needed help. After all, Sho had followed him to Dark World, which had to be the most dangerous place they had ever been. On the other hand, that might have been when Sho realized that there were some places that he just shouldn't follow Judai. A lot of people had been hurt on that adventure. Still, Judai couldn't shake the feeling that Sho's reluctance was a bad omen.

* * *

Later, Judai and Sho met up with Johan and Manjoume outside of Asuka's hotel room.

Johan waved at his friends. "Hey, guys! Are you ready for another adventure?" he asked.

Manjoume humphed. "This isn't a game, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Johan said, rubbing the back of his head. More seriously, he said, "It sounds really bad. I just got carried away because Judai's here this time, is all. We haven't worked with him in a long time, you know?"

Manjoume mumbled something that sounded very much like "idiot."

"Anyway, can we get this thing started please?" Sho said. He really didn't sound like he wanted to do this, but he was here, so he was going with the rest. He walked over and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Asuka's voice asked from the other side.

Judai took it upon himself to answer. "It's the entourage that decided they had to go with you!"

The door opened, and Asuka stood there, looking stunned. "What are _you_ three doing here?" she asked. "I only asked Judai."

"I know," Sho said, "but my girlfriend—your friend Junko—made this place sound like a living hell, so I thought it would be better to get some backup."

Asuka looked almost as annoyed as Judai felt. "Sho... I'm sure we can handle it..."

"I doubt that," Manjoume said, annoying Judai even more. "I've heard of this place from Momoe, too. The teachers are held at gun point sometimes. This is far too dangerous for you to go in alone!"

Ignoring the implication that Judai mattered so little that Asuka may as well be going alone if she went with him, Judai said, "I told Sho that we can handle it, Asuka." Then he turned to Manjoume and Sho and said, "And what I want to know is what your _elementary_ teacher girlfriends are doing at a duel _high school_, guys."

"Ever heard of promotions, idiot!?" Manjoume yelled. "Junko started out as an elementary school teacher, but she has a license to teach high school and the headmaster thought she'd make a good high school teacher, so he transferred her!"

"Yeah," Sho added, nodding, "but after what happened to her there, she says that she'd rather go back to her old job. That's how bad it is! Junko's too scared to teach there!"

"Wait, what?" Asuka asked. She hadn't heard this from her friend when last she saw her. "What happened?"

Sho just shook his head.

"Well, from the sound of it, Sho's right, guys," Johan said. "You need our help! So we're going whether you like it or not!"

"Well, honestly, I don't mind some of you tagging along," Judai said. Muttering, he added, "Though I'd still love it if you didn't..."

"What was that!?" Manjoume snapped, taking that as an attack on him.

Judai grinned broadly. "Nothing, Thunder!"

"I guess there's no helping it," Asuka sighed. "Okay, you can come. Just try not to get in the way."

With that, Asuka and her entourage headed for the airport, and their next adventure.


	2. Meet the Demons--I Mean Students!

**Here's the second chapter! Enjoy! The authors of this story do not own Yugioh GX because, if we did, we wouldn't be writing fanfictions about it, would we?**

At the airport, a school jet was waiting to take the new teacher to the school. Asuka approached the pilot and introduced herself. "Hello, I'm Asuka Tenjoin."

"Ah! Miss Tenjoin!" the pilot said. "Glad you made it here safely." He looked at her friends, slightly confused. "But who are those people?"

"These fools?" she asked, waving a hand dismissively. "They're my friends. They insisted on coming to help."

The pilot nodded. "Ah. Very well, then. Well, we should get going if everyone is ready."

"Is it too late to change my mind?" Sho asked. "I like my life, you know?"

Judai grabbed Sho around the neck and whispered, "You invited Manjoume, Sho. It's definitely too late to change your mind."

"What, are you still mad about that?" Sho asked incredulous. "He said he loves Momoe more, remember?"

"The point is, you're coming!"

Judai didn't like the idea of Sho sending two other friends along on this adventure if he wasn't planning on tagging along himself. Besides, Judai was still a bit ticked off with Manjoume, and he wasn't so sure Manjoume would actually stick with Momoe if he went on a trip with Asuka.

"Okay," Sho sighed.

Asuka turned to Judai. "Sorry about this," she said.

Judai shrugged. "It's cool. Not your fault Sho thought we should all go on another adventure together."

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

When they arrived at the school, the principal, a man with blond hair and blue eyes, was waiting to greet the new teacher.

"Ah, Miss Tenjoin," he said. "Glad you could make it. I hear you're an expert at dealing with troubled children. I sure hope that's true because they don't get any worse than these kids!"

"Don't worry, sir," Asuka answered. "I'm sure I can handle it."

"I sure hope so!" he glanced at her friends, adding, "I see you brought some help, too."

"Yes, sir. Allow me to introduce my friends. This is Sho Marufuji, Johan Andersen, Jun Manjoume, and Judai Yuki." She gestured to each in turn. "They didn't want me to come alone. Even thought I told them I could handle this," she added pointedly.

"Glad to meet you all," the principal said, studying them. "I've heard of most of you! Manjoume Thunder, Sho Marufuji, and Johan of the Crystal Beasts. It's an honor to have you."

"Thank you, sir," Johan said.

"Well, then, I guess I should introduce you to the mon—I mean, the students. But first, let's find you boys some rooms. Miss Tenjoin, your room is ready. Follow me, everyone."

As they followed the principal across campus, Judai couldn't help but wonder about something. _Did he almost call the students monsters?_

"_Oh, this should be fun," _Yubel responded sarcastically.

* * *

The principal showed Asuka to her room, then led the boys to a couple of empty rooms they could use while they were here. Manjoume and Johan shared one room, with Sho and Judai taking the other.

"I hope this is to your liking," the principal said as Judai and Sho glanced around at the room. "It's the best I could do on such short notice."

Judai turned to the man. "This is fine, Mr...?"

"Mackenzie," he answered. "So, I'll let you boys get settled in. Just stop by my office when you're ready."

"Okay, thank you very much, sir!" Sho said as Mr. Mackenzie left. Once the door had shut behind the principal, Sho turned to Judai. "Did he almost call the students here monsters? Aniki, maybe this isn't such a good idea. Maybe we should leave before someone gets hurt."

"Sho, people are already getting hurt," Judai answered. "If you guys want to leave, go ahead. But I'm gonna see what I can do about this!"

"Okay, I guess you're right," Sho said reluctantly. Muttering, he added, "Nii-san would agree, too, if he was here." To Judai, he continued, "So, I suppose we should make ourselves at home, then! Let's see what we can do about this!"

* * *

The group met up in Mr. Mackenzie's office later. After they had all entered, the principal barred the door with a heavy plank.

"Thank you all for coming," he said, taking his place behind his desk. "As you will see, we're in a bit of a bind here. The dem—I mean students have taken over the school. Many of my fine staff have canceled their classes and are quitting their jobs. They're becoming police officers and firefighters, claiming those jobs are safer."

"Is it really that bad?" Asuka asked.

"You tell me. Anyway, the source of this problem seems to be one transfer student from Germany. He's the heir of some small game company. Sam Lloyd."

Judai grinned at Manjoume. "You know, maybe it's a good thing Sho called you," he teased, earning himself a glare from Manjoume.

"Sam seems to think he doesn't need to study and can run the school instead simply because he has money," Mr. Mackenzie continued. "So far, he's succeeded."

"So, it's a classic case of one rotten apple spoiling the whole bunch, huh?" Judai asked, thinking of what that one teacher had said to him during his third year.

Mr. Mackenzie nodded. "What we need is someone who can straighten Sam out, or at least stop the other students from following his bad example. There's only one teacher here brave enough to stand up to him."

_Come to think of it,_ Mr. Mackenzie thought, _where _is_ Miss Midori anyway?_

Getting back on track, he turned to Asuka and asked, "Well, Miss Tenjoin, are you up to the task?"

"Certainly!" Asuka answered. "Don't worry, Mr. Mackenzie. I'll teach that kid a thing or two. Trust me, he'll wish he never met me!"

Judai grinned. _Oh, that kid's gonna regret this... _After all, Asuka could be pretty scary when she was mad.

"Good to hear. We could use someone like you around! So, how about the rest of you?"

"Well..." Sho started.

Judai interrupted, "You can count us in! Manjoume's been the snobbish rich kid before, and there's no way I'm gonna let that kid push me around! He's got to learn that having money doesn't give you the right to run things."

"Yeah!" Johan said, "I'm in, too! No way is that kid getting away with this!"

"Hmph! It can't be helped," Manjoume said. "Okay, I'm in." Silently, he added, _Someone's got to show him what having money really means, after all._

"_Yeah,"_ Ojama Yellow said, _"Nothing."_

"_Well, nothing except that you may think you're king or something,"_ Ojama Green amended.

"_Or you've just got too much pride,"_ Ojama Black added.

"Shut up!" Manjoume snapped.

"Great!" Mr. Mackenzie said. "Then let's waist no more time here. The hood—I mean students are waiting to meet their new Duel Theory teacher. Come this way, please."

* * *

As they approached the classroom, they heard screaming and fighting coming from inside. Sho hid behind Judai as Mr. Mackenzie entered the classroom with armed guards.

"CLASS!" Mr. Mackenzie said. "I WANT YOU TO MEET MISS TENJOIN! SHE WILL BE TEACHING THIS CLASS FROM NOW ON! TRY NOT TO KILL HER!"

"A-Aniki...I'm scared... They're worse than I thought..."

"Yeah, I mean, he's using a _megaphone_," Johan said. "They won't even settle down for the principal? That's bad, right?"

The megaphone was obviously necessary—the class was still in an uproar, refusing to quiet down even for the principal.

"What the hell is this kid doing?" Manjoume muttered.

"Well, they can't be any worse than the Dark Army, right?" Judai asked.

"_If those kids pull anything on you, I'm gonna..."_

The rest of the group seemed to be on Yubel's side in this one—they weren't sure how bad these kids were.

"NOW, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, WE ALSO HAVE SOME SPECIAL GUESTS! DON'T KILL THEM, EITHER!" Mackenzie said into the megaphone. "FROM THE PRO LEAGUE, WE HAVE THE MASTER OF THE CRYSTAL BEASTS, JOHAN ANDERSEN!"

Johan stepped forward nervously. "H-hi..."

"ALSO FROM THE PROS IS THE KING OF OJAMAS, THE MASTER OF UNION, AND HOLDER OF THE LEGENDARY ARMED DRAGONS! GIVE IT UP FOR MANJOUME THUNDER!"

Manjoume stepped forward, glaring.

"Well, somebody's ego hasn't changed..." Judai muttered.

"That's his actual pro announcement, too... He always gets introduced that way," Sho said.

"Geez..."

"Then comes the usual ichi, jun, hyaku, issen thing," Sho added.

Manjoume snatched the megaphone from Mackenzie. "FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW, I'M THE GREATEST PRO THAT EVER LIVED! WHY NOT SHOW SOME RESPECT!? AFTER ALL, IT'S NOT EVERY DAY YOU GET TO MEET **THE** MANJOUME THUNDER IN PERSON, IS IT!?"

The class went silent for a moment. Then, one boy said, "Ichi."

A girl followed his lead, continuing, "Jun."

Three other students yelled, "Hyaku!"

The whole class got in on the act for the rest of it. "Issen! MANJOUME THUNDER! THUNDER! THUNDER! MANJOUME THUNDER!"

It was clear—the class loved Manjoume. The Pro duelist handed the megaphone back to the dumbfounded principal, who just stared for a moment before, "WELL, LET'S HEAR IT FOR THUNDER!"

"THUNDER! THUNDER! MANJOUME THUNDER!" the class cheered again.

"YES, EVERYONE! YES!" an obviously excited Mackenzie yelled.

"Oh, brother..." Judai couldn't believe what was going on here. It was quite sad, actually.

"Gee, you'd think that was the first time those kids listened to someone," Sho said.

"NOW, THEN, BACK TO BUSINESS!" Mackenzie said after another moment. "NEXT WE HAVE MARUFUJI SHO! THE CO-FOUNDER OF THE NEW DIVISION OF THE PRO LEAGUE! COME ON OVER, MR. MARUFUJI!"

"I-I guess it's my turn," Sho said nervously before walking over to join the others.

"NOW FOR OUR LAST GUEST, JUDAI YUKI!" Mackenzie finished.

Judai stepped forward, joining his friends.

"NOW, I'M EXPECTING YOU ALL TO SHOW OUR GUESTS HOW GREAT THIS SCHOOL IS, AND PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T KILL THEM, OKAY!?"

"So, who exactly is that last idiot?" a purple-haired boy asked. The class went silent at the sound of his voice. "Cause I've never even heard of this 'Judai Yuki.' Right, everyone?" He grinned evilly.

"Yeah," another boy said.

"Who _is_ he?" a third boy asked.

"He must be some other clown the the principal brought in," a girl in the back commented.

"Why respect that?" a boy sitting near the girl mused.

The first boy stood up and slowly made his way toward Judai.

"Yeah," he said, still grinning evilly. "So, since we've never even _heard_ of him, I'm sure he's not much. Why should we be nice to him?"

With the way this kid was acting—and how the class reacted to him—Judai and his friends realized that this was probably Sam Lloyd.

Their suspicions were confirmed when the whole class yelled, "YEAH!?"

"_Let me do this! Just this once? Please?" _Yubel pleaded in Judai's head.

_No!_ Judai thought in irritation._ We're not giving the whole class Nightmare Pain!_

It was bad enough he had used that on Manjoume in a moment of rage; he wasn't going to use it on a bunch of teenagers!

"Now, class," Mackenzie said, sounding nervous. "Please settle down."

"Silence!" the boy who must have been Sam demanded. "I'm in charge around here! So, guys? What do you say we give this punk our own 'special greeting'?" His expression turned even nastier.

The class stood, heading menacingly toward Judai. "Yeah," they snickered.

Judai closed his eyes, obviously not worried about what they were going to do. "Guys, believe me when I say you don't want to do that."

"Get him!" Sam commanded.

The rest of the class charged Judai.

"Aniki!"

"Judai!"

"Throw him in the dumpster!"

Judai opened his eyes, which had turned orange and green. He looked right at Sam. "Really," he said. "Might be wise to rethink this one. This is your last warning, kid."

There was an underlying threat in his tone, but Sam didn't back down.

"Ooh, so _scary_! I've seen _kittens _that are scarier than that!" he said. Then, to his classmates, "What are you all waiting for!? Tie him up already!"

The students hesitated for a moment. Then, like obedient dogs, they continued their charge. Johan, Asuka, and Manjoume tried to stop them, but to no avail.

Deciding that he may have to resort to more drastic measures to stop these kids, Judai said, in a deadly whisper, "Nightmare Pain..."

Everything went silent. The class stopped where they were. "Huh?"

"What are you up to!?" Sam demanded.

Judai shrugged. "Well, a friend of mine has a certain...method...she likes to use when dealing with this sort of thing. Me, I prefer to settle it with a duel! So, how about it? Duel me, or get the 'special' treatment."

Not that Judai had any intention of giving this kid Yubel's treatment, but what Sam didn't know wouldn't hurt Judai.

"No way," Sam said. "You're not worth it. Later, freak."

With that, he walked out of the classroom. The rest of the students settled down and returned to their seats.

"What was that!?" Sho asked.

"What was what? The mob of kids threatening to tie me up, or what just happened there at the end?" Judai asked, slightly confused about Sam's departure.

"Judai, you weren't really going to—" Asuka started.

"No, of course not!" Judai interrupted.

Johan said, "Wow... This is crazy, alright. So, how should we deal with this one?"

"Simple," Asuka said. "I teach my class."

"I could help," Manjoume said. "It's obvious they all love me."

"I want to go home," Sho whimpered.

Judai sighed. "Fine, Sho. Go home. But I'm staying."

"Well, boys, since it _is_ time for class, why don't you check out the rest of the campus for now?" Asuka suggested. "I can handle this alone." After a moment, she added, "Judai, sorry about that."

"It's not your fault, Asuka. Don't worry about it."

She was silent for a moment before saying, "Well, I'll see you around then."

Manjoume, having finally found his voice after being struck speechless by the idea of leaving Asuka alone with these kids, protested, "Did you see what those brats were doing!? You can't do this alone! You need at least ONE body guard!"

Mr Mackenzie surprised everyone when he said, "I agree. Please reconsider! That was only an intro!"

"I'm fine!" Asuka asserted. "I've been in tougher situations than this before!" Muttering, she added, "Like dueling Titan." Speaking up, she finished, "Believe me. I've got this!"

"Okay, Asuka," Judai said. "Good luck. Let's go, guys."

Manjoume and Mackenzie began, "But—"

"Hey, if she said she can handle it, then she obviously can, right?" Johan interrupted. "So, let's take her advise and check things out! I've always wanted to see the American campus!"

"Yeah, okay," Sho said. "But take someone with you. You don't want to get lost, right?"

After all, Sho knew Johan had a terrible sense of direction.

"_Bii bii!"_ Johan's friend Ruby Carbuncle agreed.

"Ah, I'll be fine as long as I've got Ruby here!" Johan said. "Let's go, guys!"

And, with that, he ran off on his own.

"That idiot! He better be right about Tenjoin-kun!" Manjoume said.

"She can handle herself, Manjoume," Judai insisted. "Sheesh. And you were going to marry her?"

Before Manjoume could retort, Judai ran off.

"I hope your friends are right," Mackenzie said. "My students can be a real handful sometimes. Speaking of which, I need to go find Miss Midori. She could be in trouble again..." As he walked off, he added, "I wish you all the best of luck."


	3. The Fate of Those Who Cross Sam

**Here's chapter 3! Enjoy! Shadgirl2 and Midna Azusa don't own Yugioh GX.**

Judai walked across the campus. As he went, people kept asking him if he was crazy enough to be teaching here and warning him about the fate of teachers who crossed Sam. The name Midori kept coming up, and one teacher even said that she had gone missing recently. It was a bit unnerving to think about what might have happened to her.

_Well, one thing's for sure,_ he thought. _Whatever happened to her, it's not going to happen to Asuka!_

He was walking past one of the boys' dorms when he heard moaning coming from one of the rooms. Winged Kuriboh appeared over his shoulder.

"_Kuri, kuri!"_ it said worriedly.

"What's up, partner?" Judai asked, earning himself another worried "kuri!"

Winged Kuriboh flew over to the door to the room from which the sound was coming. Judai approached cautiously and opened the door, which he was surprised to find was unlocked. A woman with long, black hair lay tied up and gagged on the couch.

"What the heck!?" He ran over and untied her.

"Arg. Thanks," the woman said, sitting up. _Oh, that Sam._

"You wouldn't happen to be Midori Hibiki, would you?" Judai asked, taking a wild guess.

"And who exactly are you?" the woman asked, never answering Judai's question.

"I'm Judai Yuki. I'm here with a friend of mine who came here to teach."

The woman didn't look happy about this. "Another new teacher!? Oh, great. Just what we need. Honestly, it might be best if you kids left. This is too dangerous for newcomers."

"Don't worry," Judai assured her. "Asuka can handle herself."

"Kid, trust me. _No one_ can handle Sam and his army. He's too spoiled to listen to anyone." Silently, she added, _I'd rather try teaching a donkey._

Judai rubbed the back of his head. "Well, doing the impossible is sort of a...hobby of ours, you might say."

"In that case, you've come to the right place. This situation is impossible to solve, after all. Just be careful. Try not to rub Sam the wrong way _too_ much. Or you could end up like me or worse!"

Judai smiled. "Don't worry about me. I can handle Sam." Silently, he added, _Though I'm not telling you how, teach._

"Well, good luck with that," she said, getting to her feet. "Trust me, you'll need it." With that established, she stumbled out of the room, presumably to resign, though Judai wasn't entirely sure.

"Well, that was weird and random... Man, this kid's a monster!" Judai muttered.

"_Yet I can't treat him like one?"_ Yubel's snide comment ran through Judai's head.

* * *

Later, the boys were waiting for Asuka in the lobby of the school.

"She's late," Manjoume muttered.

"I hope nothing bad has happened to her!" Sho said worriedly. "What if they killed her like Mr. Mackenzie said they would!?"

"I-I'm sure he didn't really mean that!" Johan said, not sounding very sure. "Right, Judai!?"

"Yeah. Don't worry so much, guys. I'm sure Asuka's fine," Judai answered, though even he wasn't so sure. Silently, he added, _I hope._

At that moment, Asuka came over. "Arg... That Sam," she muttered, clearly irritated. "How _dare_ he do that!?"

"Asuka!" Judai was relieved to see her but worried about what Sam might have done—finding Midori Hibiki tied up in a student's room earlier that day had unnerved him a bit. "What did he do?"

"More like what _didn't_ he do!" Asuka started. "First he kept interrupting with _stupid_ questions!" Fuming, she thought, _Like I'd ever tell him my underwear size! Darn brat!_ She continued, "Then he got the whole class to take a 'sudden five-minute nap'! And _then_ he stole my planner and the whole class played keep-away with it! ARG! HE'S WORSE THAN MANJOUME WAS!"

"Hey, I resent that!" Manjoume objected.

"Really?" Sho asked, a lame look on his face. "Even if it's true?"

"Wow. That _is_ bad!" Judai said.

Asuka put a hand to her head. "Arg..."

Trying to lighten the mood, Johan said, "Hmm. Sounds like a job for Nanny McPhee. Anyone know where we can find her?"

"You think this is funny, Andersen!?" Asuka demanded. "Want to take my place then!?"

"Uh, no, that's okay..."

"I'd take your place," Judai answered. "Though I don't know if I could teach Duel Theory..." Silently, he added, _Though I could teach those kids a thing or two, maybe._

"Quit joking around, you two! It's not funny!" Asuka bellowed, all her patience gone.

"I wasn't joking," Judai said seriously.

"Sheesh..." Asuka put her hand on her head again. _What am I going to do?_

"Well, I think Asuka could use a break, don't you?" Sho said. "Why don't we leave her alone for now?"

"Good idea. Let's go somewhere else," Johan agreed, still slightly nervous after she had snapped at him.

"Whatever," Manjoume said. "Later, you two."

The three of them walked off, leaving Judai alone with Asuka.

"Arg..."

Judai looked at Asuka, thinking about the woman he found tied up earlier. Asuka could end up like that or worse if someone didn't do something about Sam.

"I'm gonna go, too," he said. _And have a talk with Sam._

"Get back here," Asuka said, venom in her voice.

Judai turned. "Yeah?"

"You and I are going to have a word with 'King Sam'," she said. "Let's go."

"Okay," Judai said, following her off to find the troublemaker.

* * *

_Well, that should be a good introduction for "Miss" Tenjoin,_ Sam thought, sitting on the couch in his room. _Now, how should I give the others a "proper" introduction?_

A banging on his door interrupted his thoughts.

"Sam!?" the new teacher's voice demanded from the other side. "Sam Lloyd, get your butt out here this instant!"

Sam sighed. _She reminds me of Miss Hibiki. Annoying. Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to teach her who's boss._

He walked over and opened the door to see her and the brunette nobody knew or cared to know. "Yeah. What do you want?"

"What do I want!? How about an apology, for starters! That was no way to treat a teacher! You should know better!"

"Uh-huh," Sam said, not really listening.

Judai chimed in, "When someone's talking to you, you should be paying attention."

"Oh, look. It's Mr. Weirdo again," Sam said. "Not a Pro or a teacher, just some sap this fool brought with her. Well, let me tell you this: I own this school. So, you two answer to me, _not_ the other way around!" He grinned evilly. "Or pay the price, that is."

"What!? What did you just say, you little—!?" Asuka started.

Sam held up a hand.

"Why...why, you!"

It was taking every ounce of willpower she had _not_ to strangle that boy right now.

"Look, if that's all you wanted, then I've got more important things to do now," Sam said. _Like plan how to deal with you._

"Well, that's not all we wanted," Judai said, getting up in Sam's face. "Unless you want the world to hear that you're afraid of getting beat by a drop-out boy, a Slifer Slacker, you'll duel me."

His temper wasn't in check—like Asuka, he was on the verge of doing something stupid to this kid.

"Sorry, I only duel when I feel like it," Sam said. Then he snapped his fingers, and a crowd of students appeared, surrounding the three of them. "Take them away," Sam told his body guards. "I'll deal with them later."

He turned to head back into his room, but Judai blocked the doorway.

"Did you hear me!?" he demanded, his eyes orange and green again. "Trust me, kid, you don't know who you're messing with."

Sam's goons grabbed Judai and Asuka. "Right away, my king!"

"Hey! Hands off!" Asuka demanded. "What are you doing!?"

Instinctively—and because Yubel was forcing her will upon him—Judai yelled, "Nightmare Pain!"

Before the attack could connect, Asuka yelled, "Judai! No! They're still just kids! Stop!"

He blinked, his eyes returning to their original color, the attack called off. He looked mildly confused, as though he had just come out of a trance.

"_Oh, come on, just once!"_ Yubel cried out in frustration.

The students hesitated for a moment, debating if this could be hazardous to their health, before dragging Judai and Asuka away from the dorm and throwing them on the ground.

"You'll regret threatening our king," one boy said. "Watch your backs, fools."

The students went back into the dorm, locking the door behind them.

"Judai, are you okay?" Asuka asked, mildly worried about him after his little outburst. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this."

"I'm fine, Asuka," Judai answered, mildly annoyed with Yubel for forcing her will upon him. Who was she, Haou? "Don't be sorry. These kids are your problem until further notice, and your problems are my problems. I mean, what are friends for, right?"

Asuka was touched. "Judai. Thank you."

A bucket of water fell on their heads from above, and the sound of laughter floated down to them.

Judai glared up at the offending students. "Who are they, the Obelisk Blues from first year?" he muttered, thinking of that time he'd wanted to duel the Kaiser.

"Huh?"

Judai closed his eyes. "No, nothing."

"So, now what?" Asuka asked. "We can't just give up now, can we? If we don't do something about 'King Sam,' who knows what he'll do next?"

Shaking his head, Judai said, "I don't know."

* * *

While this had been going down, Sho had been getting an "introduction" from Sam's underlings.

"Come on, guys!" he yelled. "This isn't funny! Give me back my pants!"

When and how they had gotten his pants off him, he wasn't entirely sure—it was sort of a blur. The students laughed, running across the campus with Sho following behind. Really, he would have been better off if he had just made his way back to his room and gotten a new pair of pants, but that apparently hadn't occurred to him.

"Hey, look everyone!" one of the students taunted. "It's Sho Marufuji parading around half naked! Fitting for a half man like him!"

This side show ran past Judai and Asuka.

"Give them back! My underwear, too, IF you don't mind!"

Eyes wide, Judai said, "Okay, there's no way I'm letting that pass."

He ran after the group as Asuka recovered enough from her shock to say, "Sho!?"


	4. The Last Straw

**Yeah, it's another chapter. This story's pretty much been written already, so it's easy to update fast. Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX.**

"Arg, those brats!" Sho complained. "The main campus _inside_, past Manjoume and Johan's room, ALL AROUND THE GIRLS' DORMS! How could they do that!?" Turning to Judai, he added, "Thanks for the help, Aniki."

"Because they think they rule the world," Judai said in answer to Sho's question. "Though they're in for a nasty surprise after they're done with school. That won't get them anywhere in life. And don't mention it."

Judai had gotten involved in the pants chase that afternoon. The kids made the mistake of dashing through the cafeteria, and Judai had cut them off at one entrance while Sho was still following behind them. Honestly, Judai was glad this day was almost over—though he doubted tomorrow would be any better.

"So, now what? How can we possibly stop them, Aniki?" Sho asked. "They only listen to Sam!"

Before Judai could answer, Johan's voice was heard outside, frantic. "Judai! Judai! Open up!"

"Johan!?" Judai threw the door open, worried about what those kids were doing now.

"Ah, glad you're here!" Johan said. "We've got trouble!"

Manjoume ran over, completely out of breath. "No sign of Tenjoin-kun!" he gasped. "I've looked everywhere!"

"What!?"

"Asuka's gone missing!" Johan said. "The principal sent out a search party an hour ago!"

Judai couldn't believe that they hadn't told him this sooner. Asuka was missing, for crying out loud!

"I bet I know who's behind all this..." Manjoume said.

"Sam," Judai snarled as he ran off to confront the boy.

* * *

Manjoume and Judai were right—Asuka was tied to a chair in Sam's room at that very moment.

"Well, Miss Tenjoin? Comfortable?" Sam asked. "Good! 'Cause we're gonna be here for awhile."

"What is the meaning of this!? Let me go right now!"

"Don't worry. You can go soon. As soon as your boyfriend takes your place, that is."

"My boyfriend? You don't mean Judai do you? No, he's not my—"

"Silence!" Sam interrupted. "You can't fool me! I see the way you look at him! That clown in red! He's got a lot to learn, and what better way to teach him than to use you as a hostage?" He paused, thinking. "You could use the lesson, too," he added.

"Darn, you brat!" Asuka fumed. "I should expel you for this!"

"Don't even try it! I'm the son of an important game designer! I've got more power in one finger than you do in your entire body 'Miss Tenjoin'! Now, then, I'm sure that clown in red will be arriving soon for his 'lesson.'" Sam turned to another student, who was holding a handgun. "Get ready to fire at my command!"

"Yes, sir!" the student said.

* * *

Judai charged toward the dorm, straight at the door to Sam's room.

"Halt!" a student standing outside as a guard commanded, his comrades getting ready to stop Judai. "No unauthorized personnel allowed!"

"Cry me a river!" Judai bellowed.

"_Finally!"_ Yubel said—Judai was finally giving her what she wanted. _"NIGHTMARE PAIN!"_

The students screamed, falling to the ground. Judai opened the door.

"SAM!"

"Ah, there you are," Sam said calmly. "We've been waiting for you."

Asuka was tied to a chair, gagged. There were several other students in the room, one of whom was holding a gun to Asuka's head.

"Asuka!"

"Not another step, you clown!" Sam commanded. "Make one wrong move and Miss Tenjoin gets it!"

Judai growled but stayed put.

"Good! Now, be a good boy and have a seat! Your lesson is about to start!" Sam said, pointing to an empty chair. A couple of other students stood by the chair, holding a coil of rope.

Judai walked over and sat down, and the students tied him up.

"Now that you're both here, we can begin our little lesson." Sam stood before them, his hands behind his back. "You two seem to think you can boss me around, but that's far from the truth. _I'm_ the boss around here! I control the school! And what I say goes! So, as long as you're on _my_ campus, you will follow _my_ rules!" He held up one finger. "Rule one. Don't talk back to me." Another finger. "Rule two. I decide when and _if_ we have class!" Three fingers. "Rule three. Always take my bribes for A+ grades. And finally... Never, _ever_ cross me!"

Judai gritted his teeth. It took every ounce of willpower he had to speak in a level tone when he said, "Sam. I'm only going to warn you one more time... You don't know what you're messing with here. Untie us, and let's talk."

Sam laughed. "Talk!? I don't talk to losers like you! Now, my minions!" he commanded the other students. "Beat them! Then give them our special 'fools' treatment! Perhaps then you'll think twice about defying me!"

The students grabbed wooden paddles, going old-school on them, and started hitting them all over with their weapons. Asuka screamed, and the last of Judai's willpower snapped. _Nobody_ hurt his friends and got away with it!

Judai snapped the ropes binding him and snatched the gun from the dumbfounded student who had been holding it. Everyone stopped, stunned.

"ALRIGHT, EVERYONE FREEZE OR ELSE!"

His eyes were Yubel's again—he no longer had any qualms about hurting these "kids." In his mind, they were Dark World fiends in disguise.

"Judai...?" Asuka asked hesitantly.

"What?" Sam couldn't believe what was going on here!

"Untie the teacher, kids," Judai said in a deadly imitation of an elementary teacher's tone. "NOW!"

The startled students hurriedly untied Asuka.

"How dare you," Sam growled. "How dare you give my students orders. You'll regret this."

Once Asuka was untied, Judai said, "Asuka, get out. Heck, everyone but Sam, get out."

"Judai..." Asuka was worried about him. Obviously the students had crossed the line this time.

The students were too stunned to move.

"I said 'get out!'" Judai barked at the kids. "Why is no one getting?"

The students ran out, terrified. Asuka hesitated.

"But, Judai—"

"Just go, Asuka. I've got this. Don't worry."

"Okay. Good luck, Judai," she said. _Meanwhile I better calm down the rest of the students..._

As Asuka left, closing the door behind her, Judai turned his attention back to Sam.

"Sam," he said, his tone calmer but firm. "I'll give you two options: We sit down and talk about why you think you can do this to people, or you duel me. What's it gonna be?"

Sam growled, not at all concerned about the weapon Judai was pointing at him. "Talk? I never talk to clowns!"

"Then we're dueling?"

"Never!" Sam said, stubborn as ever.

"How are your parents, Sam?" Judai pressed, meeting Sam's stubbornness with his own. "How are things at home?"

"My parents!? Home!? Oh, you're in trouble now, punk! Just wait until my dad hears about this! He'll make sure you go away for life!" Muttering, Sam added, "Or, at least, I will if he doesn't."

"What was that last bit?" Judai asked, his tone indicating that he had heard it well enough.

Defensively, Sam snapped, "None of your business!" He pushed a button on his desk, then smirked at Judai. "Ha! You're in for it now! I just set off the school safety alarm! It calls our Disciplinary Action Squad right to me! You better get out of here fast if you don't want caught!"

Judai sighed and put down the gun. "You do realize that I can just tell them what happened, and I have Asuka, a _teacher_, to back me up, don't you?"

Sam grinned. "Well, I've got even _more _eyewitnesses! My classmates saw you grab a gun! They can easily lie about the details if I wanted them to! Now, who are they more likely to believe, two adults or seven students!?"

Judai crossed his arms. "Given _your _track record versus Asuka's, I think I know... I won't deny grabbing the gun...in self-defense."

Sam laughed. "_My _track record!? I don't have one!"

"Really? Well, why don't we just ask Midori Hibiki about that one? Or any of your teachers, for that matter."

"Ha! That woman's as helpless as the rest! Whenever the DAS comes looking for me because of something _they_ said, my classmates _always_ take the blame! Especially our resident copycat, Ralph. He loves dressing up as other kids and impersonating them! Ralph always says it was him playing 'Super Villain Sam' again! So I never get caught!"

Seeing that he was in a bind, Judai glared at Sam. "You're going to seriously hurt somebody someday, Sam," he said, gesturing to the gun. "But, hey, if you want to be a madman with no life outside of murder, be my guest."

Having said his piece, Judai left before the DAS could catch him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Asuka had managed to calm down the rest of Judai's frightened victims.

"Okay, everyone?" she asked calmly. "So he didn't mean it. He just wanted to protect me, that's all. Okay?"

"Your boyfriend's scary..." one student observed.

Asuka blushed. "H-he's not my boyfriend!"

The students started laughing.

"What's so funny!? Hey!"

They were still laughing when Judai walked over.

"Hey, let's get out of here," he said to Asuka. He grabbed her arm and walked off, seeing a lawsuit in his future.

The students were still laughing behind them, but Asuka regained her composure enough to ask, "Judai!? What happened!?"

"Let's just say that I might need bail money soon."

"What!?"

"Sam called the Disciplinary Action Squad, which is a group I hate out of principle," he said, thinking of that time his first year, "so I think it's time we leave."

"Oh, boy... It's okay, Judai," Asuka said reassuringly. "I'll go tell the principal. He knows the truth, at least. I'm sure he'll help you out."

"Heck, I'm not really all that worried. The only way he can actually prove I did anything would be to give them that gun, which has one of his lackey's fingerprints on it, too. I just don't want to see _any_ DAS guys. Like, ever."

Every lie has a grain of truth—he didn't want to see the DAS ever again if they were coming for him. However, he didn't doubt that Sam would turn his friend in to get rid of him. Besides, knowing Sam, he had some sort of story to cover for his friend.

"Well, just to be safe," Asuka said. She pulled away and started walking off. "Don't worry, Judai. I'll take care of it. Why don't you just go back to your room and get some rest, okay?"

"Uh, because there are crazy kids with guns at this campus, and you've been kidnapped enough for one lifetime, so you're not going alone. How's that for a reason not to go back to my room?"

"Judai! I can handle this, okay!? Just go!" She hated having someone trying to babysit her.

"Humor me, alright?" he said, following her.

"Arg. Do what you want!"

* * *

The two told their story to the principal, showing the bruises and rope burn they had received as evidence.

"Hmm. I see. Don't worry, Miss Tenjoin," Mackenzie said. "I'll get the DAS off of him." Muttering, he added, "After all, this sort of thing happens every week..." Speaking up, he added, "Just try to get some rest, okay? It sounds like you two deserve it."

Asuka nodded. "Yes. Good idea. Thank you, sir."

As the two made their ways back to their rooms, Asuka said, "See, Judai? It's going to be okay."

"Yeah, okay," Judai said. "So what do we do about Sam?"

"I don't know. He's a tough case, that's for sure. If only we knew what was wrong. I mean, there has to be some reason he acts this way, right?" She sighed. "Anyway, let's worry about him later. I'm tired. Good night."

"Night," Judai responded.

Asuka headed back to her room, making sure that Judai didn't follow. Since he'd ticked her off enough for one night—and she probably wouldn't be getting in trouble again this soon—he made his way back to his own room.


	5. Introductions from the Fiends

**Here's the next chapter! Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX.**

The next day, Sho, Judai, and Manjoume were waiting for Asuka at the entrance to the main building after school.

"Tenjoin-kun's late again," Manjoume said. "What's that brat up to now!?"

"I don't know. I'm still concerned about what happened last night though," Sho said. "Aniki may go to jail for it!"

_Maybe I should go looking for Asuka_, Judai thought._ I mean, these kids have _guns_! Who knows what they might have done to her?_

"Those darn brats!" Johan said from outside. "Do they think this is funny!? Just wait til they turn Pro! I'll get them back for this then!"

The sound of laughter filled the air.

"Oh, now what?" Manjoume got up to check it out, then found that he didn't have to go anywhere.

The three watched as Johan walked by in a pink dress, white high heels, and makeup. His nails were painted to match his dress.

Judai opened the door. "Johan!?"

"Don't. Ask!" he said, walking off to change

"Hey, Judai?" Asuka's voice said from behind him. "Want to know what that fools' treatment was?"

Turning, Judai saw Asuka dressed like a clown. She was wearing a red skirt with white polkadots, a white shirt, a long red tie, clown shoes and long white socks. Her face was painted like a clown's, and her hair was dyed in a rainbow of colors.

"_This_ is the fools' treatment!"

Judai just stared, not sure what to say.

"_Come on, you know you want to..." _Yubel spoke in his mind. _"Just one little, teeny, tiny bit of—"_

_No._

"Tenjoin-kun!" Manjoume exclaimed. "Are you okay!?"

"Aniki? What's going on?"

"Well, that's a dang good question," Judai said. "These kids are starting to make me miss the Dark World Army, let's just say that."

They heard more laughing. Several students were gathered around a computer in the lobby, laughing.

"Stupid Johanna!" one of the students said.

"Now what are they doing!?" Asuka demanded.

"Who's Johanna?" Sho asked.

Glaring at the students, Judai said, "I'm guessing Johan..."

Manjoume walked over and glanced over their shoulders. His eyes widened when he saw what was so funny. "WHAT THE HELL!?"

The others joined him, the students getting up and walking off, still laughing. The computer screen was showing the front page of that day's issue of the school paper. The headline read, "Welcome, Miss Johanna of the Crystal Beasts!" A picture of Johan holding his dress down (clearly he was hanging upside down) was flipped upside down on the paper, making it look like he was standing there rather than hanging.

"I didn't need to see that..." Judai mumbled.

"Wow. That's low!" Sho said. _And I thought what they did to me was bad._

"So, is _this_ how these brats say 'hello' or something!?" Manjoume said, clearly irritated. "I mean, really!"

"It's starting to look like it... No wonder nobody wants to teach here," Judai said. "These kids are animals!"

Manjoume turned his attention to Asuka. "Come on, Tenjoin-kun. Let's get you cleaned up."

Judai glared at Manjoume.

"Thanks but no thanks," Asuka said, walking off. "I can do that myself!"

"Can we go home_ now_!?" Sho begged. "I've seen lions that are nicer than these kids!"

Honestly, Judai would love for his friends, especially the small, easy-to-pick-on, Sho, to go home—though he didn't say this.

* * *

That night in their room, Sho had his suitcase open on his bed.

"So, I think I'll start packing, then," he said. "Hopefully I'll be out of here by morning!"

"Yeah, hopefully," Judai said absentmindedly. He was lying on his bed, trying to think of some way to deal with Sam.

There was a knock on their door. "Judai?" Asuka called. "You there?"

He sat up. "Yeah, Asuka. Come on in, it's open."

"Actually, can you come here for a minute?" she asked. "I want to talk about Sam in private."

"Yeah, okay," he said, heading for the door.

Asuka had dyed her hair back to blond, trying to cover up the rainbow—it hadn't come out after twenty washes, so she figured it would take awhile.

"So, you wouldn't know anything about why Sam does this, would you?" she asked Judai.

"Well, something he said last night has got me thinking..."

"What did he say?"

"He told me that his dad would 'make sure I go away for life,' but muttered something right after that. 'I will if he doesn't.' Sounds like he's got issues with his dad."

"Hmm. I see..." She was quiet for a moment before saying, "Judai. You can go if you want to."

"Huh?"

"It's okay," she said. "I can handle it alone. You don't have to—"

"Asuka," he interrupted. "I'm not leaving."

"Well, you should. All of you should. I'm sorry I got you all involved. But this problem is too difficult and dangerous to solve. I'll keep trying, but... Just go, Judai. You don't have to put up with this."

"If you're staying, then so am I, Asuka," Judai answered firmly. "I'm not leaving you here alone to deal with these kids. I'd rather not read the news one day and see a headline saying, 'American DA Teacher Shot and Killed.'"

"Judai..." She paused, then, "The stars shre are pretty tonight."

Judai looked up. "Yeah, they are." He turned to Asuka and whispered, "But not as pretty as you."

"AAARRRGG!" Judai and Asuka jumped at the sound. "THOSE DAMN BRATS! WHERE ARE ALL MY CLOTHES!?" Manjoume bellowed.

Johan came running out of the room the two were sharing. "Hey, Judai!?" he called. "Can Manjoume borrow some of your clothes? Those kids stole all of his and left and Ojama King costume in his closet! He's wearing it while he looks for his clothes, but he thinks they might be gone."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Judai said. "Yeah, go help yourself, I guess."

Johan looked relieved. "Great! Thanks! He's being real picky. Won't wear anything white, so I thought he could borrow one of your black shirts." Jokingly, he added, "Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he hates white!" He laughed.

Judai sweat a little, thinking of the Society of Light incident—and White Thunder. "Uh, yeah, heh."

* * *

Sho, meanwhile, was in a sack, being moved across campus to who knew where.

_Ugh. Those brats. What are they doing now!?_

* * *

Johan grabbed some clothes from Judai's room, then ran off to find Manjoume, who had gone searching for his clothes in an Ojama King costume (so at least he'd be easy to find).

Asuka sighed. "Well, I guess that was the last 'introduction' then," she said.

"Yeah, hopefully," Judai said, thinking about the fact that his only "introduction" hadn't exactly gone the way Sam had planned it.

* * *

When Judai returned to his room, he found that Sho wasn't there. He had left a note on his bed, though.

"Gone to help Manjoume look for his clothes," it read. "Be back later."

Judai shrugged and flopped onto his bed. A string snapped, and a bucket of whipped cream fell on him.

"Ah... The fiends have been here."

He grabbed a towel and wiped off some of the cream, heading to his and Sho's private bathroom (which he had not been in before this moment). The bathtub was huge!

"Huh," he said, thinking back to his days as a student at Duel Academy and the Slifer bathhouse. "This is new for me. Hmm...wonder if they booby trapped this, too..."

"_It would make sense since they dumped whipped cream on you,"_ Yubel said. _"That seems too mild for them."_

"Agreed."

He took a closer look, covering every corner of the room and finding nothing.

"Okay, I guess it wouldn't hurt..." he decided.

"_If anything happens I'm going to give this whole damn school Nightmare Pain. You included."_

"And how are you going to do that? You're part of me now, remember?" he asked, getting into the tub.

* * *

Sho was walking back from the other side of campus, covered in trash. Those kids had thrown him in a dumpster behind the cafeteria.

"Okay. THAT IS IT!" he yelled. "Why are they always picking on me!? Is it because I'm little!? I'm older than they are!"

He mumbled similar complaints under his breath as he kept walking.

* * *

Judai went under the water to wash the whipped cream out of his hair. Yubel saw some students coming over with a bucket.

"_Judai, brats at twelve o'clock," _she warned.

_Right, got it._

He stayed under the water, planning on startling the kids or something. The kids, however, didn't come all the way over. They threw the bucket into the bath, filling it with red dye.

"What the hell!?" Judai exclaimed, jumping out of the tub.

Too late. From head to toe, he was red. The kids laughed as they made a break for it. Judai looked himself over.

"Huh," he said. "I know I like red, but this is ridiculous."

"_Judai, they're getting away!" _Yubel complained. _"Do something!"_

Judai calmly wrapped a towel around his waist. "I'm not upset about this, actually. I don't care if I'm red from head to toe."

"_Judai, only you would be that stupid..."_

* * *

Sho stormed into the room, a banana peel on his head. "I'll get them for this! I swear!"

He was heading for the bathroom.

Lying in bed, Judai said, "Yeah, I wouldn't go in there if I were you."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Three guesses," Judai said, waiting for Sho to realize what was wrong with this picture.

Looking closer, Sho realized that the bedding on Judai's bed had been changed and...his face, hair, and hands were red.

"Aniki! What happened!?"

"Well, I had whipped cream dumped on me, so I went to take a bath and was dumb enough to leave the door unlocked. What happened to you?"

"Oh...it's nothing. Don't worry about it!" he said, suddenly feeling like his dumpster dive was a small matter. "I'll just go see if I can use Manjoume and Johan's bathtub instead..."

He walked out, leaving Judai to wonder what had happened. "Why do I get the feeling he wasn't looking for Manjoume's clothes?"

* * *

The next day was Sunday, so there weren't any classes. Judai met up with everyone at their usual place.

"Judai!?" Johan asked when he saw him. "Wow. When Sho said you were all red, he wasn't kidding."

Manjoume just stared at him. _Those brats_, he thought. _I hope they're done now!_

"Yeah, I totally didn't see it coming," Judai said. "Though, Yubel's pretty ticked off about it..."

"_I WILL DAMN THEM ALL TO HELL!"_

"So, what happened anyway?" Manjoume asked.

"Walked into my room, flopped down on my bed, got whipped cream dumped on me, went to take a bath, got red dye thrown in," Judai summarized.

"Sounds like something they would do," Asuka said.

"I guess that explains why they threw me in a dumpster on the other side of the school, though," Sho said.

"That's what happened, huh?" Judai said.

"Yeah. I thought that was too mild for them. Guess I was right. They just wanted me out of the way, huh?"

Sam walked over with some of his followers. "Hey, look, guys. It's Miss Tenfool, Johanna, Sho the half-man, Ojama King Manjoume, and the clown in red. Looking good, by the way," he teased.

His followers laughed.

Judai grinned. "Thanks!" he said.

"YOU!" Manjoume bellowed. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT! Nobody but _nobody_ does that to ME AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!"

"Whoa!" Johan said, grabbing Manjoume. "Take it easy, Manjoume! They're still just kids, you know!"

"No. More like Dark World monsters, really!" Manjoume said. "I'm gonna kill _all_ of them!"

"Calm down, Manjoume!" Asuka said. "It's okay!"

She and Johan tried to calm Manjoume down.

"So," Sam said to Judai, "how's that fools' treatment treating you so far, you red fool?"

Judai grinned, deciding this was a great chance to bug Sam. "Aw, you're so sweet, Sam! It's great, thanks for asking. But, uh, you might want to get out of here before Manjoume gets his hands on you..."

Sam was quiet for a moment before asking, "So, you're not mad?"

"Nah! Doesn't bother me one bit! Nothing you can do to me can be nearly as bad as half of what I've already been through."

"Oh, really? Well, we'll see about that." Sam walked off, the others following him.

"Aniki, I don't like the sound of that," Sho said.

"Hey, as long as no one dies, we're good. Though, maybe you guys should head home, just to be safe."

"Oh. We're staying," Manjoume said. "Just to keep an eye on things, though."

"Yeah," Johan nodded. "We figure that, if we don't anger him, we'll be okay, right?"

Sho nodded in agreement.

"Well, that is what Miss Midori said I should do," Asuka admitted.

"Then it's decided!" Sho said. "We don't anger Sam!"

"Not quite," Asuka said. "I still have to teach my class, and that includes King Sam. I'll just have to teach him a lesson somehow."

"How are you going to do that?" Judai asked.

"I don't know yet. But I'll think of something."

* * *

Later, Judai was walking down a dirt path in the nearby forest to meet Asuka at a "special place" she had found.

"I wonder what Asuka meant, 'special place...'"

Meanwhile, watching from nearby, Sam said, "Okay. There he is! Nice work, Travis. Tailing Miss Tenjoin like that. I knew she would want to bring her boyfriend here! Now, let us enjoy the show."

As Judai walked, he fell in a pitfall trap, landing in vanilla cream pie.

"Whoa!" He looked around at the mess he was sitting in. Hesitantly, he tasted it. "Well, it's the tastiest trap I've ever fallen into."

"_Judai..."_

The kids came out, laughing. One snapped a picture of Judai. "Perfect for the front page!" he said. "'A Red Clown and his Pie!'"

Sam stepped up to the edge. "And, with that, I declare this fools' treatment complete. I hope you enjoyed it."

Judai grinned again. "Wow, you guys have some creative ideas! And tasty!"

"Really?" Sam said. "That's all you have to say? You just fell in a pitfall made of vanilla cream pie! You're lucky you're not hurt. I mean, that's a good sized hole! You could have broken something! And you're a mess! Don't you even care!?"

"Kid, I've jumped off the roof of a burning building while being shot at before!" Judai said. "Your little pranks are just the act of an insecure teenager, and I'm okay with that."

"I-insecure!? Who are you calling insecure!? You'll pay for that!"

Sam stormed off, leaving Judai with the distinct impression that he shouldn't have said that.

_Oops. I just made him mad..._

"_Well, he was still after you, anyway, so what does it matter?"_

* * *

Asuka was getting impatient. _Where is he? I thought he'd be here by now. I hope he's okay._

That's when Judai walked over, wiping his hair with a towel. "Hey, Asuka!"

"Judai! What happened!?"

"I fell in a pitfall of vanilla cream pie."

"What!?"

"Yeah, Sam and his cronies tried to get me again. Personally, that just seems like a waste of perfectly good pie."

"Judai..." Asuka sweat. Changing the subject, she asked, "So, what do you think of this place?"

They were standing on the bank of a crystal clear lake. A mountain range on the other side was reflected in the water. Wild flowers grew on the bank.

"It's beautiful," he answered.

"I found this place yesterday while taking a walk to blow off some steam. I liked the way the mountains seem to meet the lake, even though they're so far away. It's so peaceful. I feel like all my cares are melting away whenever I come here." She paused. "Judai. I'm sorry."

"Huh? What are you sorry for?"

"For getting you mixed up in my problems. Sam seems to have it out for you ever since I took you to confront him. He should only hate me..."

"Asuka, your problems are my problems," Judai reminded her. "Besides, Sam doesn't bother me. Nothing he can do can compare to some of the crazy stuff we've been through. Well, nothing short of killing me."

She blushed. "Judai... Thank you..."

"Asuka..."

* * *

"So, pranks don't bug him, huh?" Sam muttered.

"_**Your little pranks are just the act of an insecure teenager, and I'm okay with that."**_

"How dare he. I'm not insecure! I'm king!" Sam paused, then laughed. "And I'll prove it to him, too! By the time I'm done with him, he'll wish he never messed with me!"

He let out an evil laugh.


	6. Poisoned

**Okay! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX.**

The next day, Judai seemed to be lost in another world. While this wasn't entirely unusual for him, it worried his friends, as they weren't sure what was wrong with him.

"Judai?" Johan asked. "Are you feeling okay?"

Sho placed his hand on Judai's forehead. "He doesn't seem to have a fever."

Manjoume grabbed his arm. "His pulse is okay."

"I'm fine, guys!" Judai said, having snapped to attention when Manjoume grabbed his arm.

"Are you sure, Aniki? You're all red!" Sho looked thoughtful. "Well, _redder_!"

"How can you tell? I'm dyed red!"

"Well, it _could_ be the fact that the dye is starting to fade," Manjoume suggested sarcastically. "We're also wondering why the heck you keep spacing out! Honestly, it's like the lights are on, but nobody's home."

"Well, maybe that's true, Manjoume," Johan said. "When _that_ happens, everyone gets red!"

Johan had a theory about what was wrong with Judai.

Judai wasn't totally sure what Johan was suggesting. When _what_ happens? "I'm fine, guys," he said.

The looks they gave him told him they didn't believe him.

"Oh, don't worry about him," Asuka said, walking over. "He's fine. My class, on the other hand, needs to settle down."

Judai spun around to face her. "Now what?"

"Well, Sam didn't come to class today, so his stand-in is causing a riot, as per Sam's orders. So I want Thunder here to go calm them down."

"Why me!?"

"Because everyone _loves_ 'Manjoume Thunder,'" she answered. "Now get going. Class is half over."

Manjoume ran off, calling over his shoulder, "Hey, Johan! Back me up, will you!?"

Johan ran after him. Sho, seeing an opportunity, decided to join them.

"Well, I guess I'll go, too. They might need some back-up," he said before running off.

"Good idea!" Asuka called after him. "I'll wait here, then! Let me know when they settle down!"

"So, what should I do?" Judai asked.

Before Asuka could answer, a voice behind them said, "Hmm. From the looks of things, you've messed with Sam."

The two turned to see a woman with blond hair and brown eyes. She was dressed in white and carrying a suitcase.

"Way to go," she teased. "Now you're in for it."

"I'm not worried," Judai responded. "Who are you, anyway?" he asked, cocking his head.

"My name is Reggie Mackenzie," she answered. "Nice to meet you. But, if I were you, boy, I'd get out of here before it's too late."

"'Too late?'"

"What do you mean 'too late?'" Asuka asked.

"I mean, sister, that if your boyfriend isn't careful, he could find himself in the hospital scarred for life." Muttering, she added, "Like that fool Koyo."

"What, the kid's gonna attack me or something?"

"Close enough. I guess you _could_ call it that. Anyway, you must be Asuka Tenjoin, right?"

"That's right," Asuka said, startled. "But—"

"Well, it's nice to meet you!" Reggie said. "Buki has told me so much about you."

"Oh, he has, has he?" Asuka asked, sweating. _I can't go anywhere without meeting a member of my brother's fan club!_

"Why, yes!" Fubuki said, randomly popping up beside Reggie. "Yes I have!"

"Nii-san!?"

"Fubuki? What are you doing here?"

"That's my line!" Fubuki said. "I came here to pick up Mac! What are _you_ two doing here?"

"Asuka was called in to help, and I tagged along to help her," Judai answered.

"Oh, no!" Fubuki said, throwing an arm across his face. "Not here! Not now! Noo!"

"It'll be okay, hon," Mac soothed, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Fubuki turned to face her, getting more dramatic and causing her to back up. "No, it won't! Mac, you just don't know _my_ sister! She's bound to get herself killed here!" Dropping to his knees, his hands clasped, he said, "Asuka, please! Get out while you still can!" Taking a closer look at Judai, he added, "You, too, Red Boy!"

Asuka sweat and put a hand on her head. "Nii-san, you're making a scene..."

"Relax, Fubuki!" Judai assured the older man. "We can take care of ourselves."

Wanting to make an impression on these stubborn people, Fubuki stood up and said, "Remember Dark World!? Well, you two have just entered the earth version!" He threw his arm across his face, bawling. "Why, it's only a matter of time before your stubbornness and pride get you two in serious trouble!" Dropping his arm, he added, "And from the looks of you, Judai, you're close!" He gestured to the two of them dramatically. "Do you two want to die before you can get married!?"

"NII-SAN!" Asuka exclaimed, blushing.

Judai was still stuck on the part about Dark World. _I know I've been comparing these kids to the Dark Army, but I was joking!_

"Dark World, huh?" he asked.

"Why do you think so many people are quitting their jobs as teachers here?" he said, his hands on his hips. "Junko was one of them, you know? And Momoe is so scared, she won't take any offers she has to get promoted for fear of being sent here! Trust me, this is no place for a stubborn couple like you two!"

As he finished, he put his arm across his face again, sobbing.

"CUT THAT OUT!" Asuka demanded, still blushing furiously. "Who said we were a couple?" she mumbled, crossing her arms.

Fubuki peeked over his arm, lowering it slowly as he asked, "Uh, it _is_ just you two, right?"

"Uh..."

Judai's hesitation caused Fubuki's eyes to widen. "Oh, no. Don't tell me there's more!?"

"Well, Sho insisted that we couldn't come alone, so..."

"YOU DIDN'T! SHO!? OF ALL PEOPLE, WHY DID YOU BRING _HIM_!?"

"It's okay," Mac said, wrapping her arms around Fubuki. "Try to calm down, Buki, darling. I'm sure the rest aren't as stupid as these two." Turning to Judai and Asuka, she added, "No offense."

"Sho wants to leave," Judai said. "Heck, I don't know why he hasn't yet."

"Well, then, make him leave!" Fubuki demanded. "I heard from Ryo that he didn't do too well in Dark World either. HE THREW HIS DUEL DISK OUT FOR SOME STUPID REASON! THEN HE GOT ATTACKED BY A GIANT BUG! Why, if Ryo hadn't been there, HE WOULD HAVE DIED THEN!" Pulling away from Mac, Fubuki got up in Judai's face. "GET HIM OUT OF HERE NOW!"

"Sweety, I know you're worried, but can't you just let it go?" Mac asked. "We obviously aren't going to convince them, and all this stress isn't good for you. Why don't we just get on with our vacation plans and forget about it?"

Fubuki sighed. "I guess you're right, Mac. We both know my sister won't listen to reason. Okay, let's go, then."

The two turned to leave.

"Darling? Sweety?" Asuka mumbled. "Hold up!" she called after her brother. "This had better be for real this time!"

Mac looked at Fubuki. "You haven't told her?"

"Told me what?"

"Ah! Yes! Sorry, Mac!" Fubuki said. "I was so excited about it, I totally forgot!" He laughed awkwardly before turning to his sister. "Well, sis, to answer your question, we're engaged."

Mac showed off her ring.

"What!?" Asuka couldn't believe it.

Judai smiled. "Hey, that's great! Congrats!"

"When did this happen!?"

"About a year ago," Fubuki said casually. "Around the same time you got engaged to Ryo."

He pulled Mac into a hug. Asuka was speechless.

"Ah, look, Buki." Mac said. "She's too stunned for words. Now don't you wish you had told her sooner?"

"Nah," Fubuki said dismissively. "She'd act like this anyway."

"Now, just a minute!" Asuka protested.

"Anyway, we should get going," Fubuki said. "Our pre-honeymoon in Paris is waiting for us. I'll be sure to mail you your invitation to the wedding, so don't worry sis," he called back as they walked off.

"I can't believe that...!"

"Well, I guess it was bound to happen eventually," Judai said.

Asuka sighed. "Yeah. I guess you're right. But what did he mean when he said this was the earth equivalent of Dark World?"

"I have a bad feeling we're going to find out soon."

* * *

The next day, outside of the entrance to the main building, Judai told the others about his run-in with Fubuki the previous day.

"You're kidding! Fubuki's engaged!?" Johan exclaimed.

"Are you sure!?" Sho asked.

"Yeah, I met his fiance yesterday."

Manjoume crossed his arms. "Hmph! Who knew the idiot had it in him." He may have once idolized Fubuki, but his time engaged to Asuka had changed his mind about the older Tenjoin.

"I know!" Sho agreed. "Sounds crazy. Are you sure it was our Fubuki?"

Judai nodded. "Yeah. By the way, he says you should go, Sho."

"Huh? Why? Isn't it safe to be here if you leave Sam alone?" Sho asked.

Judai shrugged. "Fubuki was freaking out when he saw us."

"No surprise there," Manjoume said. "I mean, we all know how dangerous this place can be. Right, Red Boy?"

"Yeah..." The brunette rubbed the back of his head.

Suddenly, a student ran by with three duel disks. "Oh, man!" he said loudly. "I'm gonna be rich this time! I've got the decks of three famous duelists! I'm gonna go sell them online!"

"HEY!" Manjoume bellowed. "YOU CAN'T DO THAT! GET BACK HERE!" After all, the kid was obviously talking about his, Sho's, and Johan's decks. What other famous duelists were on this campus?

"YEAH! THAT DECK IS MY FAMILY!" Johan called after him. "YOU CAN'T SELL SOMEONE ELSE'S FAMILY!"

"THAT'S RIGHT! AND THOSE CARDS WERE A GIFT FROM MY BROTHER, SO THEY'RE JUST AS VALUABLE! GIVE THEM BACK, YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

Only later would the three realize that this was all a setup. They ran after the kid. Judai was about to follow when he felt like he was being watched.

"Who's there!?" he demanded.

There was no answer. Suddenly, something came flying at him from his left side. He jumped back out of the way as a dart stuck itself in the ground where he had just been standing.

"Well, looks like somebody's out to get me."

"_Three guesses."_

A student with a dart gun came out from behind a nearby tree and started running off.

"Hey! Get back here!" Judai called, following the boy as he ran into the forest nearby. Something about all of this didn't feel right, though.

"_Judai,"_ Yubel said. _"Be on your toes."_

_You don't have to tell me twice._

Another dart came out of the trees. But this time, it wasn't the only one. Dozens of darts came flying at him from all directions.

"Crap!"

He dodged as best he could, but one finally hit him in his left calf. He gasped, looking down.

"What the hell...?"

There was laughter among the trees. "I got him!"

"Who's there!?"

Several students with dart launchers came down from the trees. One of them laughed.

"You're in for it now, punk!" he said. "No one angers King Sam and gets away with it!" He laughed again. "I hope you thoroughly enjoy the suffering you're about to experience!"

The kids ran off, laughing. Judai stared after them for a moment before glancing down at his leg, worried.

"What did they mean...?"

He suddenly started feeling warm.

"_What did they do!?"_

"Winged Kuriboh, get help..." Judai said weakly, falling to his knees.

The little duel spirit left to find Manjoume or Johan.

* * *

Sho, Johan, and Manjoume looked over their decks, which they had retrieved from that lousy kid.

"That creep," Manjoume muttered. "If I find even one card missing, I'm gonna strangle him!"

"Well, all of mine are here," Johan confirmed.

"My cards are all safe, too."

"That's good, at least," Johan said, nodding. "Now we should go find Judai."

_Come to think of it,_ Sho thought, _why didn't he help us?_

Suddenly a frantic Winged Kuriboh got in Johan's face.

"Winged Kuriboh! What's wrong?"

Manjoume looked at the winged hairball.

"_Kuri kuri kuri!"_ it said frantically, pointing to the woods.

"What happened to him!?" Johan asked, running after the spirit that had just told him his best friend was in trouble. Manjoume and Sho followed.

"Hey!" Sho asked. "What's going on!? Is Aniki okay!?"

* * *

When the three found Judai, he was kneeling on the ground, seemingly in pain.

"Judai! Are you okay!? What happened!?" Johan asked.

"Aniki!"

Judai coughed, then looked up slightly. "Guys..."

His cheeks were tinted red, as if he had a fever.

"It's going to be okay!" Johan said, kneeling down beside him and throwing Judai's arm over his shoulders. "Hold on!"

Manjoume grabbed his other arm, and the two of them helped Judai to the infirmary, Sho following behind, worried.


	7. Sick as a Shiba Warrior

**Okay, first things first, there is an OC in this chapter. She belongs to Shadgirl2. With that aside, enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX.**

**WARNING: OC**

Asuka burst through the door to the infirmary. "Is Judai okay!?"

She glanced over and saw him lying in bed, sleeping.

The nurse—a woman with short, black hair and green eyes—said, "Well, his fever has gone down, but I'm afraid your friend has a bad case of the flu. Poor thing. He must have done something really bad to Sam to receive _this_ punishment."

"Are you saying Sam did this!? How!?" Johan demanded.

"Well, we have a chemistry student here. Arnie Woodsmen. He can make almost anything in the lab. Sam probably asked him to help him again. That's usually what happens. Otherwise, Arnie's one of our best behaved students."

Asuka held up a hand. "Wait. Why is a chemistry student in a dueling school!?"

Before the nurse could tell them that Arnie was a transfer student, Judai spoke.

"Misawa...? Where?" Apparently he'd woken up just in time for the part about chemistry students at duel school.

"He's not here, you idiot!" Manjoume yelled. "It's another chemistry nerd!"

"Chemistry nerd...?" Judai was really lost. "What...?"

"Aniki, how are you feeling!?" Sho asked, panicking.

"Not so great," he answered. "What's wrong with me?"

"I'm afraid Sam's given you one nasty flu," the nurse said. "I'm sorry."

Judai groaned. "The flu? Seriously? From Sam?"

"Well, actually, it's from Arnie Woodsmen. Sam's chemist. But I'm afraid it's no ordinary flu bug."

"What do you mean!?" Johan asked, worried.

"Is Aniki gonna be okay!?"

"Trust me," the nurse said, shaking her head. "You don't want to know. But don't worry. He'll be fine in time."

"Uh, I think I want to know since I've got it..."

The nurse looked thoughtful for a moment, as though she were debating how much she should tell him. "Let's just say it lasts longer and leave it at that."

Now Judai was worried. What wasn't she telling him?

He wasn't the only one. Asuka looked at him, concern written all over her face. "Judai."

"Don't worry, young man," the nurse said reassuringly. "You'll be okay. Okay?"

"Okay..." Judai said, though he didn't sound too sure.

"Now, get some rest, okay? Trust me. You'll need it," the nurse said before walking off.

"Wow," Johan said. "So what happened, anyway?"

Not really wanting to get scolded—which he was sure would happen if he told them the full story—Judai gave them the short version. "Some kid hit me with a dart."

"Oh, come on!" Manjoume said. "It couldn't have been _that_ easy! What _really_ happened!?"

Reluctantly, Judai said, "Some kid fired a dart, missed, and ran off. I followed him and got a lot more fired at me."

"Aniki!"

_Here it comes,_ Judai thought. Wanting to let them know that the lecture was unnecessary, he said, "I know, I know, it was stupid."

"Well, yes," Asuka said. "That was kind of dumb. Why didn't you just tell someone what happened?"

"Or he _could've_ just taken the thing to someone for study," Manjoume muttered.

"I didn't think there'd be an ambush? I don't know. I guess I wasn't thinking..."

"_You can say that again,"_ Yubel said, clearly annoyed. She also sounded slightly relieved, though. Probably just glad that he wasn't dying.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it now, so I say we let Judai get some rest for now," Johan said.

"I'll stay here, if no one minds," Sho said.

"Sounds like a plan," Manjoume said, nodding.

"Okay. See ya later, Judai," Johan said. "Get well soon, okay?"

Johan, Manjoume, and Asuka turned to walk off. Asuka stopped in the doorway and looked back at the sick brunette.

"Judai," she said. "I'll stop by later to check on you, okay?"

"Okay."

Asuka smiled at him, then she left.

* * *

Three days later, Judai was so sick he couldn't stand it. He ached all over, and the nurse wouldn't give him any medicine because she said it wouldn't help anyway. Asuka stopped by while he was asleep and found out from the nurse just how long this was going to last. Feeling really sorry for him, she put some flowers in a vase and set them on the nightstand. Glancing over, she saw that he was awake. She sat down beside the bed.

"Hey, Judai," she said. "How are you feeling today?"

"Don't ask," he mumbled, closing his eyes.

"Judai. I'm sorry. I never should have asked you to come. If I hadn't, you wouldn't be so sick," she said, sounding extremely upset.

"It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself."

"Judai..."

He opened his mouth to say something, but he leaned over the side of the bed instead, emptying the contents of his stomach into a bucket. Asuka turned away. After a moment, Judai sat up.

"So...how've things been going with your class?" he asked, wiping his mouth.

"Well, Sam refuses to show up, so Manjoume 'Thunder' has started attending class to prevent a riot. Thanks to that, it's actually been going okay!"

"Oh. Well, I guess that's—"

He leaned over the side of the bed again.

"Judai..." Asuka said sadly. _Sam. How could you be so cruel?_

Judai sat up again, shivering. Asuka stood.

"I'll ask the nurse for another blanket," she said, walking off.

* * *

Johan, meanwhile, was on his way to the infirmary to check on Judai when he ran into a young woman, probably around their age, with wavy red hair pulled back in a ponytail and red eyes. She was slightly taller than him, maybe by an inch or two, and she had a butterfly pin in her hair. He guessed that she was the Phys Ed teacher because she was wearing the school's gym uniform—white shorts with green stripes on the sides, a white T-shirt with the school mascot and acronym, green wristbands, and white tennis shoes.

"Hi!" she said, sounding really excited. "You're Johan of the Crystal Beasts, right!? Huh!? Are you!? Well!?"

As she spoke, she leaned in closer and closer, grinning wildly, unnerving Johan quite a bit.

"Uh, yeah," he said, pushing her back gently. "Who are you?"

"Me!? I'm Kathleen! Nice to meet ya! So, is it true that the Crystal Beasts are the cutest things ever!? Well!?" She cupped her hands in front of her, bouncing slightly.

Johan had no idea where she had gotten the idea that the Crystal Beasts were the "cutest things ever," but he thought that she could use a caffeine reduction. Or sugar, whichever it was that was making her so hyper.

"Uh..."

"Oh, my gosh! You've just gotta show 'em to me!" Kathleen said. "Pretty please with sugar on top!?

As she got in his face, hands still cupped, a smile on her face, and batted her eyelashes, he was thinking that she didn't need any more sugar.

"Uh, okay," he said, slightly dumbfounded.

She moved back, lowering her arms and waited patiently, which was a bit unusual, considering that she had been bouncing off the walls just a second ago.

Johan pulled out his deck and held it out to her. She pouted and put up a hand.

"No, no!" she said. "That's soo boring! Why not use your duel disk and summon 'em one by one!?"

She was grinning broadly. Johan wasn't sure what her problem was, but she was really confusing him.

"Uh, okay...?"

He activated his duel disk and started summoning his monsters one by one. Kathleen danced in place with excitement as each one appeared.

* * *

Sho and Manjoume barged into the infirmary, storming up to Judai.

"Aniki!? What is _this_!?" Sho demanded loudly, waving around a piece of paper.

"More importantly, WHERE'S TENJOIN-KUN!?" Manjoume bellowed at their sick friend. "SHE'S GOT SOME EXPLAINING TO DO!" He had several papers in hand.

"Can you stop yelling? Please?" Judai asked, holding his head and wishing for the millionth time that medicine would get rid of his stupid headache. "She went to get the nurse. And how should I know what you're waving around?"

"I just got a letter from Junko!" Sho said, not lowering his voice at all. "She wants to know if she can have my apartment when I die! She knows I'm here, but _I_ certainly didn't tell her! So how does she know that!?"

"And Momoe just sent me the world's longest scolding for the same reason!" Manjoume said, shoving his papers in Judai's face. "SEE!? IT'S TEN PAGES LONG! HOW DO THEY KNOW WE'RE HERE, ANYWAY!? ANY GUESSES, JUDAI!?" he demanded accusingly.

Judai, still holding his head, said, "Stop yelling, would you? How should I know how your girlfriends found out?"

Asuka walked over with another blanket just as Manjoume was about to yell something else. "Knock it off, you two!" she ordered. "You know he's sick!"

"Sorry, Asuka..." Sho said, looking guilty.

Manjoume stood there with his mouth open for a moment as that fact reemerged in his mind. "Right, my bad," he said finally, getting out of Judai's face. "But, still, how the hell did our girlfriends find this out anyway!?"

"I can think of only _one_ person who could've told them," Asuka said, throwing the blanket over Judai. "Fubuki. That blabber-mouth. I wonder who _else _he's told?"

Asuka assumed that Fubuki had been spreading the word about Sho, Judai, and her being here and decided that Johan and Manjoume must be here when he couldn't find them to tell them this piece of gossip.

"When I get my hands on him..." Manjoume looked ready to kill.

Sho sighed. "Sorry, Aniki. I had to get that out. I shouldn't have bothered you with it, though. Still friends?"

"Yeah, of course," Judai said before coughing.

That's when he realized something—Asuka was here, meaning that the school day was over. Johan usually stopped by around the same time as Asuka, but he hadn't shown up yet.

Remembering the evil that was these kids, Judai looked worried when he asked, "Hey, where's Johan?"

When nobody could answer, he got more anxious and wanted to go looking for him. The group then spent the better part of the rest of the afternoon trying desperately to keep their sick, adrenaline-powered friend in bed, thinking that it would be easier to wrestle a wild boar.

* * *

When Johan summoned the Rainbow Dragon, Kathleen jumped for joy.

"Oh, my gosh!" she said. "That's soo cool! Come on, Johan! One more time! Please!?" she said, batting her eyes again.

Johan blushed. "Well, okay, but then I gotta go," he said before removing Rainbow Dragon from his duel disk and replacing the card.

Kathleen shielded her eyes from the gleam as the dragon appeared. "Oh! It's soo beautiful! How it shines in the sunlight, _amazing_! Truly amazing!"

Something barked from down around Kathleen's feet. Kathleen looked down, smiling.

"I know, right, Taro!?" she said.

Johan's eyes widened as a Shiba Warrior Taro appeared, standing on her right side.

"So, you can see duel spirits, too?" he asked.

Hands cupped in front of her, Kathleen nodded, eyes closed. "Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Yeah! I can see Taro! Just like you can see that super-cute Ruby Carbuncle, right!?" As she said this last part, she opened her eyes and pointed at the carbuncle on Johan's left shoulder.

"Wow. It's not every day I meet someone else who can see Ruby," Johan said.

Kathleen giggled, rubbing the back of her head. "Oh!" she said suddenly. "I almost forgot! I've got something cool to show you, too! Come on!"

She winked at him, waved for him to follow, and ran off into the woods. Johan hesitated before following. He didn't see Kathleen anywhere at first. Then a bison showed up...with Kathleen on its back.

"So, Johan? What do you think!? Cool, right!?"

Other animals gathered around, making Johan feel like he was in that fairytale, Snow White.

"Oh, wow!" he said. "Yeah, that is cool! Animals really like you, don't they?"

Kathleen giggled. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Come on! Get on! Let's have some fun with my friend Harold!"

Completely forgetting about his sick friend, Johan said, "Okay!" and climbed aboard the bison.

"Okay, Harold!" Kathleen said. "Meet my new friend, Johan! He would just _love_ a tour of the forest! So, how about it?"

Harold replied, and they took off. Along the way, a mountain lion showed up. Johan had the nasty feeling that it was going to eat their ride—or worse, them—when Kathleen waved to it.

"Hey! Conni! How're the cubs!?"

Johan gaped at her for a moment. The last time he had met someone who was friends with carnivorous animals...

"...You don't know a guy named Jim Cook, do you?"

Kathleen just laughed, and the two of them continued their little adventure.


	8. Hiring a (Cheap) Private Investigator

**Alrighty, here's the next chapter! Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX.**

As Johan entered the infirmary that evening, he was still thinking of Kathleen. "Wow. She's some woman!" Silently, he wondered, _Can she actually talk to animals?_

Asuka, Sho, and Manjoume were relieved to see him—they were tired of trying to convince Judai that he was okay and wrestling with him. After all, they had been at it for at least an hour now. Currently, the sick brunette was wrestling with the blanket Manjoume had yanked over his head yet again.

"Well, it's about time, Andersen!" Manjoume scolded. "Where the heck were you!?"

Johan rubbed the back of his head, smiling sheepishly. "Uh, sorry, guys. I got distracted by a pretty girl who talks to animals, I think." He mumbled, "I mean, they seemed to understand _her_, at least."

"Wait a minute, what!?" Sho asked. Pretty girls talking to animals? Had Johan hit his head? Was this bug contagious?

"Uh, never mind!" Johan said. "Anyway, how's Judai doing?"

The brunette in question popped out from under the blanket at that moment. "Johan! You're alive!"

"Well, of course! I don't think it's dangerous spending the day with a girl about our age!" he said with a laugh.

"Yeah, well, I thought you'd turn up dead in a gutter somewhere!"

"And why would I do that? Granted, the fall off the cliff wasn't fun, but she had it under control!"

"Wait," Asuka said, signalling for him to back up. "You fell off a cliff? Why no broken bones?" Silently, not wanting to get Judai worked up again, she added, _And how are you alive?_

"Let's just say that girl's pretty smart," Johan answered cryptically. "Anyway, sorry if I worried you."

Now that the adrenaline had worn off, Judai felt nauseous.

"It's fine," he muttered, lying down.

Concerned, Johan asked, "Uh, you feeling _any_ better yet? It's been three days already!"

Asuka lowered her head as Judai said, "No. If anything, I'm feeling worse."

"Sorry, Judai," Asuka said.

Judai looked at her. "Sorry?" She'd been saying that a lot lately, and it usually didn't make any sense for her to be apologizing."What for?"

"I know how long this thing lasts. It's nowhere near over."

"HUH!?" Sho panicked.

Everyone looked stunned.

"How long does it last, Asuka?" Judai asked, not sure if he really wanted to know.

She hesitated. "Well..."

"Well!?" Sho demanded. "How long!?"

Quietly, she answered, "Five to six weeks..."

Judai stared at her.

"I'm really sorry..." she said, looking away.

"Okay. That's just sick!" Manjoume said. "Who does that Sam think he is, making a disease like that!?"

Judai coughed. "Evil. He's trying to outdo Haou." Though, really, the kid still had a long way to go if he was going to do that.

"Okay," Johan said decisively. "I think it's time we call some backup."

The others all stared at him.

"Uh, Johan?" Sho asked. "Is that _really_ a good idea? Just look what that kid's done to Aniki! If we get anyone else involved, who knows what could happen!"

"I hate to admit it, but Sho's right," Asuka said. "We can't let another friend end up like this."

"Ah! But who said they had to come here to help?" Johan asked with a grin.

"Johan, that makes—" Judai started before leaning over the bed, wretching.

"Oh, yes, it does!" Johan said, knowing full well what Judai had been about to say. "What we need to do is organize an investigation into Sam's life! His family history; all his friends, assuming he has any; his whole life story!"

Judai sat up and grinned a bit. "Oh, I see where you're going with this."

"Really? Care to fill us in, then?" Sho asked.

"He's gonna call someone who knows how to get the info we need without confronting Sam. I did that with Fujiwara." He coughed, then added, "I think I know who, too."

"Who is it, then?" Manjoume asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Johan asked. "I'm talking about O'Brien! I'll call O'Brien and ask him to do a full investigation into the matter."

"That's a good idea. He's good at things like that," Asuka said.

Judai nodded. "Yeah, he can get the information we need. Then we can figure out what do to about this kid," he said with a cough.

"Great! I'll get right on it, then! In the meantime, I don't want anyone to do anything to upset Sam. We don't need any more victims, okay?" Johan said half jokingly.

Asuka sighed. "I guess it can't be helped. Okay."

"I already said I was staying away from the kid!" Sho said. "Right, Manjoume?"

Manjoume nodded.

Johan smiled and looked at Judai. "Well, Judai?"

"Yeah," he coughed. "Okay."

"Great! See ya later, then!" Johan said before running off.

Sho turned to Asuka. "Asuka, you weren't serious about how long this lasts, were you? Is it contagious?"

"Sorry, Sho, I was," Asuka answered. "But the nurse _did_ say it wasn't contagious, otherwise Judai would have to be quarantined so no one else got it."

Relieved, Sho sighed. "That's good."

"Yeah, for you, maybe," Judai said, one hand on his stomach and the other over his mouth.

* * *

Johan dialed the number, then he waited for an answer. When the mercenary picked up, he said, "Hey, O'Brien! We could use some help. See, Asuka was called in to help with the situation at the American Duel Academy... How much do you know about that?"

"Enough to know that you shouldn't be there and those kids should be transferred to a military school," O'Brien answered.

"Great! Then I can cut right to the chase!" Johan said. "We need you to dig up some information on the chief troublemaker here, Sam Lloyd."

"Lloyd... I've heard that name before," O'Brien mused. "Alright. What kind of information?"

"Anything you can come up with about his past. His family, his friends, his old school records, even if he's got a criminal record or anything."

"Alright, I'll do it. By the way, how are the others?"

Johan sweat. "Uh, well... They're fine! Mostly. Judai got himself in a bit of trouble, but he'll live."

"Why am I not surprised?" After all, it was always Judai who seemed to attract trouble.

Johan laughed nervously. "Yeah, well...what are you gonna do?"

"What can you tell me about this Sam Lloyd?"

"His dad runs some small gaming company. I don't know what it's called. And he's a transfer from Germany. That's about it."

"Understood. I'll let you know what I come up with," O'Brien answered. "In the meantime, you guys stay out of trouble, got it?"

"Got it," Johan said. "Thanks, O'Brien. We'll be waiting."

Hanging up the phone, Johan thought, _Well, nothing to do now but wait. We're counting on you, O'Brien._


	9. Identity Revealed!

**Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX.**

One uneventful week later, Johan's phone rang.

"Hello?" he answered.

"It's me," O'Brien said. "I found out about Sam Lloyd. It turns out that isn't his real name."

"What?"

"Yeah. It's Schroeder. Samuel von Schroeder. His father is the president of Schroeder Corp. Siegfried von Schroeder. It's a small company that had one big success about 16 years ago. Because he's going to inherit the family business, Sam spent a lot of time studying game theory and business so he could one day take over the company."

"The son of Siegfried von Schroeder, huh? Thank you, O'Brien. Let me know if you find out anything else. Good luck!" As he hung up, Johan wondered, _So, a Schroeder... Where have I heard that name before?_

Shaking his head, he decided that riddle could wait until he told the others this news.

* * *

Judai was sweating buckets. When he'd found out that this flu came with record-high fevers, he had hoped that it was a joke.

"Aniki?" Sho asked, worried. "Want me to get the nurse?"

"Please..."

"Okay. Be right back!" he said as he ran off.

No sooner had Sho left than Sam walked in.

"So?" he said, grinning smugly as he approached. "How's my 'Super Flu' bug treating you? You red clown."

"Oh, hey, Sam," Judai said. He _still _wasn't going to let this kid get to him. "How's it going?"

Sam snickered. "Well, don't you look terrible. Boy, I'm sure glad _I_ don't have it!"

"Still can't compare to some of the crap I've been through, kid," Judai said. "Good luck beating Haou..."

"Huh? Is that your dad's name or something? How bad _was_ that guy!?"

"He took advantage of my suffering and killed my friends."

Stunned, Sam took a moment to answer. "Huh...?"

"Pure evil..." Judai muttered absentmindedly.

Sam was quiet for a moment before getting back on track. "Oh, never mind. I don't really care. So, what you're saying is you _like_ this flu, then?"

Judai wasn't in the mood to deal with this. "I'm saying it's still nothing compared to a city burning to the ground all around you while you run from the maniac who started it and he's shooting at you."

"W-what!?"

"Take my advice: Never vacation in Venice. Crazy stuff happens there."

Sam stared at him for a moment, looking disturbed or freaked out. "Okay, you're weird," he said finally. "Later, nut."

He walked out just as Sho was returning with the nurse.

"Oh, no. Was that Sam?" the nurse asked, worried. "Are you okay!?" She ran the rest of the way to him, along with Sho.

"Aniki! What happened this time!?"

"Nothing. It's fine." He coughed.

The nurse put a thermometer in his mouth as she said, "Surely he did something! Sam isn't the type to just walk in and say 'hi' to someone he hates!"

She gave him a moment to respond, but he never did (possibly because of the thermometer in his mouth, she realized later). Taking the thermometer and checking the reading, she said, "Hmm. Well, it's up to 104 again."

She handed him some medicine and a glass of water.

"He tried to get a reaction out of me," Judai answered finally. "I think I disturbed him, though..." He swallowed the pills and downed the water in two gulps.

As the nurse walked off, Sho tried to figure out what Judai could have done to disturb Sam.

"What? Do I even want to know?" Sho asked as his imagination ran wild—he imagined Judai acting like a madman, or maybe like he was in love with Sam.

"He asked what I thought of his flu, I told him the truth," Judai said simply, serving to confuse Sho.

"So, what? You hate it, right?" He thought about it, but he couldn't figure out what was so disturbing about that. _How is _that_ disturbing?_

"Yeah, but there are some things he just can't beat..."

Bad feeling... Sho wondered if Judai had talked about Dark World—oh, crap.

"Aniki, you didn't!"

Judai coughed. "What? It got him to leave."

Sho sweat. "Anikiii..."

"Hey, guys," Johan said as he entered the infirmary. "How's it going?"

"Aniki just did something stupid," Sho said, pointing at Judai with an annoyed look on his face.

Johan cocked his head. "What?" he asked, slightly worried, as he looked at Judai.

"Sam was here," Judai answered.

"Sam!?"

"Yeah, he asked me how I like his super flu."

"And what did you tell him?"

"I told him the truth."

"Which is?"

"That it can't compare to some of the stuff I've been through." He coughed again, then added, "He seemed kind of disturbed when he left."

"...Judai..."

Stunned and worried, Johan wondered what Sam would do to him now. If the super flu didn't work, did he do something even more drastic? Or would Sam somehow use Judai's words against him?

"Uh, anyway," Johan said, "O'Brien found out about Sam."

Glad for a subject change, Judai said, "Great. What have you got?"

"He's a Schroeder. His dad's the president of Schroeder Corp. Sam is the heir to his family's business."

As Judai emptied the contents of his stomach, Sho asked, "So, he's rich, then?"

"Yeah. But that family isn't very well-known. They had one huge success about 16 years or so ago. But I feel like there's more to their story than that."

"So, his family's rich, but not very well-known?" Judai asked.

"Yeah."

"Aniki? Could that have something to do with it?"

"I get the feeling it involves his dad..." Judai said before coughing.

"_I_ get the feeling this _isn't_ the first time this family's caused people a lot of trouble! Siegfried... Where have I heard that name before?" Johan wondered.

"Isn't he the guy who crashed the Kaiba Corp Grand Championship?" Judai asked. "And his brother won the tournament. Then they nearly ruined Kaiba Corp, I think..."

"Really? When was this?" Sho asked.

Johan pounded his hand into his fist. "Right! The Kaiba Corp Grand Prix! Yeah, now I remember! They used aliases to crash the tournament! Leon Wilson and Siegfried Lloyd!"

"Wait," Sho said. "Doesn't Sam call himself Lloyd!?"

"Exactly! His dad crashed the KCGC years ago, now _he's_ making a nuisance of himself here, using the same fake name."

"So, does that mean Sam's just his agent or something?" Johan asked.

Judai shook his head. "No, something Sam said has me—" He leaned over the bed and wretched before finishing, "has me curious."

"Huh?"

"That night that I nearly got arrested...Sam said his dad would make sure I was put away for life. But he muttered something else... 'At least, I will if he won't.'"

"So, daddy issues, huh?" Johan said.

The nurse came over with a new bucket. "Sounds about right," she said—apparently she'd been listening to their conversation. "That family is famous around here for that sort of thing. Some of our students are transfers from Germany, and they've heard some nasty stuff about the Schroeders. You know how these things spread. Anyway, according to the students, Leon was ignored by his parents, and Siegfried was pushed to his limits as the heir of Schroeder Corp. At least, that's what I've heard."

"Then it wouldn't surprise me if Sam had 'daddy issues,'" Judai said with a cough.

"So, now what?" Sho asked.

Johan glanced at his watch. "Oh! Look at the time! I'm running late for my da—er, I mean, an important appointment! But O'Brien's still investigating, so do nothing, okay!?"

Johan ran out, blushing slightly. Sho watched him go, slightly stunned.

"What was that?"

"Johan has a date," Judai mused. "Well, guess he finally found a girlfriend..." he said, coughing slightly.


	10. Getting to the Bottom of Things

**Here's the next chapter! Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX.**

**WARNING: OC**

Three weeks later, Asuka stopped by to see Judai after class. And, whether she liked it or not, she was bringing along another woman.

"Hi, Judai," she said, walking over. "Feeling any better?"

She had another woman with her—a red-head with a bunch of plants in her arms.

"Oh, wow," the red-head said. "When you said it was bad, you so weren't kidding." _I hope I can help._

"Not really..." he answered. "Who's that?"

Asuka sweat a little, not entirely sure herself. "This is—"

The woman interrupted, pointing at herself with a thumb. "The name's Kathleen! Nice to meet you! Too bad it's under these circumstances, though." She held up her arms. "But maybe these can help."

Smiling, Kathleen walked over to his bed. She started putting those plants all over the place, and Judai had no idea what she was doing.

"What's this...?" he asked.

Asuka sighed. "Sorry about that, Judai. She insisted on helping."

"Of course!" Kathleen said. "No one should be _this_ sick for this long! That's no fun at all! Besides, nature _does_ provide the best medicine! Right?" She looked at Judai for an answer, smiling widely.

Judai stared at her, wondering where Asuka found this girl "Who _are_ you...?" He looked at Asuka and asked, "You guys know each other how...?"

"Well, I've been trying to say—"

"We work together!" Kathleen interrupted again.

Asuka smacked her face.

"We met awhile ago at a meeting with the principal!" Kathleen continued.

Asuka looked at Kathleen, very much annoyed. "You know, I _can_ tell him myself, right?"

Kathleen giggled, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry! My bad!" With another laugh, she turned her attention back to Judai. "Anyway, that should just about do it!"

She had put onions in a bowl on the stand and was throwing some other stuff into a bowl.

"Okay, and when did I come up in your conversations?" Judai asked.

"_I_ didn't say anything," Asuka said.

"Johan did! He's super cool! When I found out he had a sick friend, I just couldn't sit still! So I gathered these herbs and asked Asuka if she could please take me to him!"

"I said no, but she followed me here."

"So, you're Johan's girlfriend?" Judai asked, totally lost.

Kathleen didn't answer. She just finished making her odd little concoction, then handed the bowl—which contained some unappealing liquid—to Judai.

"Anyway, this one's for fever," she said, encouraging him to drink whatever that was. "This one clears the sinuses." She pointed at the onions. "And _this_ one—"

She touched some weird branch or something that she'd shoved in his pants—he didn't have the slightest clue what it was or what it was for, but Kathleen knew. It worked against the super flu—this provided temporary relief from the muscle aches and the nausea. It was an accident that she'd discovered that it worked. The last time someone had been given the super flu, Kathleen had treated the man and left this behind by accident. She had used part of it for one of her remedies. While the man had been rolling around, it had somehow wound up in his pants. The next time Kathleen stopped in to see him, he had begged her for another miracle cure, as he was calling "whatever it is that you did." Kathleen didn't know how it worked, and she wasn't going to experiment with such a serious illness.

Asuka crossed her arms, not liking where Kathleen's hands were. _Okay, that's enough!_

"Kathleen, as 'interesting' as those herbs are, I think we're good, okay?" she said testily.

Kathleen stopped and stared at Asuka for a moment, looking slightly confused. "Okay!" she said at last. She stood up, smiling, and ran off. "Just let me know if ya need anything else! 'Kay!?" she called back.

"Sheesh." Asuka thought, _I can't _believe_ she had the nerve to touch him there! Or anywhere, for that matter! After all, _I'm_ his girlfriend!_

She blushed, startled by her own thoughts.

"Asuka? You okay?"

"Y-yeah! I'm fine!" she said, still blushing. She laughed awkwardly. _Did I really just think that!?_ she wondered. "Anyway, how are those herbs working!?" Anything to change the subject!

"Actually, I am feeling a bit better," he said.

"Really? That's good, then."

Johan came running in. "More good news, guys!" At the sight that met him, he paused, looking stunned. "Uh, Kathleen's been here, I take it?"

After all, he only knows one hyperactive young lady capable of _this_ much mischief.

"Yeah, your girlfriend knows her stuff," Judai said.

Johan's eyes widened. "She's not my girlfriend!" he said, blushing.

"Uh-huh." Judai gave Johan a lame look, grinning—he wasn't buying it. "Anyway, what's the news?"

Johan quickly regained his composure, seemingly relieved at the subject change. "O'Brien's found out some interesting news about Sam's past. Turns out, Sam had no friends growing up. His parents were hardly ever home, either, and, when they were, they were always too busy to spend time with him. Sam's uncle Leon was his only playmate. The two did everything together, and it was Leon who taught Sam how to duel. But, about two years ago, Leon got sick and died."

"Two years!?" Asuka asked. "That's about the time all of this started!"

Judai closed his eyes, thinking this story sounded slightly familiar. "Really?"

Just then, Sho ran in, frantic. "Aniki! I've got a problem! I sure hope you guys have about solved this mystery!"

"What's up?"

Manjoume came in, saying, "Junko and Momoe are thinking of moving to Rome. They say they feel like army wives, and they don't like it. If we don't solve this thing soon—"

"We're as good as dumped!" Sho finished.

"Oh, boy..." Judai sighed. "Look, if you guys want to leave, go ahead. I think we've got this one covered."

"Really, Aniki?" Sho asked. "Are you sure? 'Cause the last time you said that about this case, you wound up like this!"

"Yeah, but now we know what the deal is," Judai said. "And I know just the person to deal with it."

"Really? Who?" Asuka asked.

"Me," he said as he stood up, knocking Kathleen's herbs off in the process.

The gang gawked at him.

"What!?" Manjoume exclaimed. "Why you!? _I'm _the rich one around here!"

"Yeah. You're the rich one with the brothers expecting you to help them rule the world. But that's not Sam's problem. Trust me when I say I can relate to him better than you can."

"How?" Johan asked.

"Yeah! You're not rich!" Manjoume agreed.

"Really? So, just because I'm not rich means I have nothing in common with a rich kid? Get a new viewpoint, Manjoume."

Manjoume crossed his arms. "Hmph!"

"But, Judai! You're still sick!" Asuka protested. "You can't go! Please get back in bed!"

_How can he possibly think of confronting Sam like this!? He was moaning in pain just a minute ago! Why would he take such a huge risk when he feels like that!? How can he even stand with how sick he is!?_

"I'm okay, Asuka," Judai said. "Really. Besides, somebody's gotta deal with Sam."

Sho started, "Yeah, but—"

"Your girlfriend's about to dump you, remember?" Judai interrupted.

Sho looked down. "Yeah. I guess you're right. But, if you've got a plan, I can still go home while you recover!" He looked up, frantic again. "Please, don't do it, Aniki!"

"Relax. I'll be okay." He coughed.

"_That doesn't help your case..."_

"Judai..."

Asuka didn't want him to go in his condition—there was a chance he could make himself worse or anger Sam again, which would put him in more danger.

"_**Do you two want to die before you can get married!?"**_ her brother's words echoed in her head.

_If Judai confronts Sam in this condition, will he be killed by him while he's still too weak to fight back?_ Asuka wondered. _Was Fubuki saying that the kid would literally kill us if we crossed the line? What's going to happen if something goes wrong and Judai's too sick to protect himself!? Will I lose him forever this time? No. I don't even want to think about that! Please don't go, Judai!_

"Really, I'm feeling a lot better now," the brunette said. "I'll be fine for a little while, and I'll call you guys if it turns out I'm wrong, okay?"

Johan, seeing that it was pointless, said, "You're wasting your time, guys. Look in his eyes. Believe me, nothing you say can stop him, anyway. He's determined to end this as soon as possible."

"I guess you're right," Asuka admitted reluctantly. She glared at Judai. "You'd better take care of yourself! Don't overdo it, okay!?"

"Don't worry," he said. "I won't."

With that, Judai left to confront Sam. One way or the other, this whole thing was ending today.


	11. The Final Confrontation

**Sorry for the wait! Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX.**

Sam was relaxing on his bed when someone knocked on the door.

"Hey, your highness," Judai's voice called from the other side, "mind if the clown comes in?"

Sam couldn't believe his ears. "What are _you_ doing here?" he asked. "Shouldn't you be moaning in pain somewhere right about now?"

"Yeah, well, I never do what I should."

"Hmph. Go away, ya loser."

Instead of listening, Judai tried the door. It was unlocked, so he let himself in. "Is that what your dad says to you when you try to talk to him?"

"My dad!? What's he got to do with this!?"

"You've got issues with your old man, don't you?" Judai asked, walking over to the couch and making himself at home in this boy's room.

Sam sat up, glaring at Judai. "NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! And who said you could come in!? GET OUT, YOU SICKLY RED CLOWN!"

"Your dad's pretty busy, isn't he?" Judai asked, bound and determined to have a more productive conversation with this kid than he had last time. "He's always working and never has time for you. It's like he doesn't care what happens to you. You don't matter—all that matters is his job."

From his tone, it seemed Judai knew the feeling. Sam closed his eyes. "SHUT UP!"

"To add insult to injury, none of the other kids wanted anything to do with you," Judai continued. "You spent all your time alone because you didn't have any friends."

Sam growled before, defensively, he yelled, "WHAT DO YOU KNOW!? YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING, OKAY!? GET LOST, ALREADY!"

"Don't be so quick to judge, Sam. Maybe I know more than you think."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean!?" Sam hissed.

"My parents are always working," Judai answered. "Heck, I doubt they even know what the heck I'm doing with my life these days, that's how busy they are."

Sam's expression slowly changed from anger to stun. "Huh?

"My parents were always working," Judai repeated. "I spent all my time with my friends. At least, I did at first..."

That's when Sam really started listening.

"My friends, though, got scared off by my over-protective...babysitter, you could say. She didn't like it when people upset me, so she kept attacking my friends. Eventually, none of them would hang out with me anymore."

Sam's eyes widened some. "Really?"

"Yeah," Judai nodded. "It sucked. I sat all by myself in the school cafeteria."

Sam looked down thoughtfully. "Yeah..."

"So, the only person I had was my babysitter...until she had to leave." Granted, Judai was stretching his story just a bit—Yubel, his "babysitter," had been sent away for a reason. But Sam didn't need to know that.

"Sounds about right..." Sam muttered. "Leon..."

Now for the real stretch. "I never told anyone this. Never thought anyone would understand."

"I-I just..."

Judai stood up. "Well, maybe I shouldn't have told you either, seeing as you have it out for me. But, still..." He turned and headed for the door.

"...Leon... He was my uncle...and the only person who cared about me..."

Judai stopped, his back to the boy, and smirked. _Got him._

He wiped the smirk off his face as he turned to face Sam. "Leon, huh? What happened to him?"

"One day, he got really sick and had to go to the hospital," Sam said in a small voice. "The doctors said there was nothing they could do and he only had a month to live. Not long after that, he died."

"I'm sorry... That couldn't have been easy on you."

Sam shook his head. "Now that he's gone, no one cares about me anymore... What's the point in caring?"

"Well, Sam, let me tell you something: People do care, but you don't make it easy for them to show you that," Judai countered.

"No, they don't!" Sam yelled. "All anyone ever wants from me is money or a favor! That's how I took over this school, ya know! I just gave the 'people' what they wanted, and boom, I'm king. It was too easy."

"Really," Judai said flatly. "Then tell me what I'm doing here. All you've given me is red skin, a messy desert, and a really nasty flu. It would be a lot easier to just take everyone's advice and get out of here, yet here I am, standing in your room, with another week or two of your bug left, trying to talk to you. Why?"

Sam humphed, crossing his arms, and muttered, "'Cause you're crazy."

"Crazy? Well, I'd have the right after what I've been through," Judai said, half-joking. "But, no, not quite."

Again, Sam humphed.

Judai decided to take a different route. "Sam, what exactly are you going for, being king of this school?"

"Heh! Oh, I'll tell ya. I'm getting my revenge," Sam said, snickering.

"'Revenge?' On who?"

"Who else? That suit and his stupid company, that's who!" Sam exclaimed. "I'm gonna take this school and make it into New Schroeder Corp! Then I'll run that _fool_ out of business! Then he'll finally pay for ignoring me!"

The teenage boy laughed evilly, like a super villain on TV.

"What's that going to do for you?" Judai asked.

Sam crossed his arms and humphed again. _It'll make me feel better, that's what!_

"Sam," Judai said, "I know what it's like to have parents who are too busy for you. But that doesn't mean that they don't care. Parents want what's best for their kids, so they work hard to get it for them. Sometimes they just don't realize that what their kids really want is them."

"Yeah, right," Sam said. "Wake up and smell the roses. This is the real world! Where that fantasy doesn't always exist!" Mumbling, he added, "Sheesh. What a fool."

"Sam, I'm not kidding," Judai said firmly. "My parents wer too busy for me nine times out of ten. They missed every one of my birthdays, and my dad actually forgot my birthday a couple times. But, when I really needed them, they were there for me. I used to have these really bad nightmares, so my parents got worried and took care of it."

"Well, good for you. My dad's not like that."

"Has he told you that he doesn't care?"

Sam hesitated. "N-no..."

"Did you ever go to him with a serious problem and get blown off after telling him that it was important and couldn't wait?"

Sam thought back to the month before Leon's death—his mother and father had stayed home with him a lot, and his father had stayed strong right up til the end, even when it was obvious that he felt like crying.

"N-no. What's your point, anyway?" Sam asked.

"My point is, maybe your dad _does_ care, but he doesn't know how you feel," Judai answered. "He's only human; he can't read minds or anything. If you don't tell him, he won't know."

Sam was quiet for a moment, thinking about what Judai had said. Finally, he asked, "Really? You think he does care?"

"I'd bet on it."

Sam thought about this for a moment. _Maybe..._

"I-I want to call him, but..."

"But what?" Judai asked.

Sam didn't answer, but he looked nervous.

_What if he's wrong? _he wondered.

"Sam," Judai said, reading the look on the kid's face. "If I'm wrong, you can do whatever you want to me and my friends, and I won't say a word about it. I'll get off your back. Heck, I'll drag Asuka away from here even."

Sam hesitated for another moment before asking, "Will you help me talk to him, Judai?"

Judai smiled. "Of course."

Sam called his father, saying it was important. With Judai's support, he told his dad how he felt, which was an enlightening experience to Siegfried.

"Sam, you should have told me that you felt this way sooner," he scolded lightly. "I'm sorry. I never meant to make you feel like you weren't important. You're my son. If it means that much to you, I promise I'll make more time for you."

As he said this, Siegfried was thinking of his younger brother—how he had grown up in Siegfried's shadow, with nothing to keep him company but the fairy tale characters he had liked so much. Realizing that he had made this same mistake with his own son, Siegfried swore that he would try to do better in the future.

Sam was so glad to hear that his father not only cared about him but was going to make more time for him that he hugged Judai in an uncharacteristically emotional moment. Of course, that's when Judai's flu reared its ugly head.

Sam let go as Judai coughed.

"Well," Judai said, "that lasted longer than I thought it would." He pulled out his phone and called Johan. "Hey, I could use some help over at Sam's room." As Johan started to panic, he added, "I'm fine, but whatever your girlfriend did wore off."

"She's not my girlfriend!" Johan protested.

Judai coughed. "Look, can you just get over here and help me get back to the infirmary?"

Normally he wouldn't ask to be there, but this was a special case—he wasn't feeling up to any of his great escapes.

"Okay, buddy, I'll be there as soon as I can," Johan answered.


	12. Apologies

**Okay, after this, there's only one more chapter, which is actually just the epilogue, so this is technically it! Sorry for the wait! Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX.**

"Hey, Judai!" Johan said, walking into the infirmary to visit his sick friend a couple days later. "So, you talked to Sam, then?"

"Yeah, I talked to him," Judai said with a cough.

Yes, Johan was asking, even though HE had been the one to take Judai back to the infirmary after that little adventure. And he was waiting two days for reasons he didn't want to discuss—even though Sho very much wanted to know.

"Hey! Are you ignoring me or what!?" Sho asked, irritated. "I asked you where you were yesterday!? HEY!"

This was the third time Sho had asked Johan why he hadn't stopped by yesterday—because he hadn't—and Johan kept ignoring the question, seemingly not hearing.

"So, how did it go?"

"Pretty well, actually," Judai answered. "Hey, think you can get your girlfriend to bring in some more of those herbs?" He still felt awful, and those herbs, however weird, had helped last time, so they should work again, right?

Sho sighed, giving up on getting an answer out of their strange friend. _What's wrong with him? When I asked the first time, he looked really nervous and started talking about Sam! What's gotten into him lately?_

Johan blinked. "My what? Oh. You mean Kathleen? Okay. But she's not my girlfriend, okay?" He winked, grinning.

Not feeling up to arguing, Judai said, "Yeah, okay, whatever." Then he coughed again.

"Okay, then," Johan said. "Hang on, I'll go ask her." He ran out, jokingly calling over his shoulder, "Be right back! Don't go anywhere!"

Sho was still irritated. "What was that all about? Am I invisible or something? I mean, the guy completely ignored my questions from the moment he got here! Is he okay?"

"I'm sure he's fine," Judai said. "It's just his new friend, Kathleen."

Sam poked his head through the door hesitantly. "Uh, may I come in?"

Sho glared at him. "ABSOLUTELY NOT! WHAT ARE YOU UP TO THIS—"

"It's okay, Sho," Judai interrupted. "What's up, Sam?"

Sam walked over, a bottle in hand. "I've got something for you, Judai," he said, holding the bottle out to him. "I-I had my friend Arnie create some medicine for his super flu bug. It took him all of yesterday and half of last night to complete, but it's done. It should help you if you take it. You may even feel good enough to leave here. Please accept it."

"Don't trust him, Aniki," Sho said urgently. "He's gotta be up to something!"

"Please. It's an apology gift to you for causing you so much trouble."

Judai stared at Sam for a moment, searching for any signs of deceit. "Alright," he said at last. "Thanks, Sam."

As Sam handed the medicine to Judai, he said, "D-don't mention it. You did say that, if the talk went bad, I could do anything to you and your friends. Since you were right, I thought I could do something different." He turned to Sho. "Mr. Marufuji? Here," he said, handing him some pictures.

Sho stared at the pictures for a moment. "W-what are these!?" he demanded.

The pictures were clearly from the day the students had stolen his pants—he was running around half naked, trying to catch those brats!

"It's all the pictures my class took," Sam said, cuing Sho into the fact that they had been taking pictures of that event. "You can have them, and burn them if you like. I'm sorry about that."

Sho was too stunned for words.

Sam turned back to Judai and said, "Anyway, according to Arnie, if you take that three times a day, it should clear up in a week, and it shouldn't be as bad as it is now. He says, at this stage, you may even be able to get out of bed."

"Great," Judai said before grinning at the kid. "Though, at this point, a week's about as long as it's got left, isn't it?"

"W-well, it could be two!" Sam said. "Besides, don't you wanna feel better? You've been suffering a lot this whole month, right? This should end all that, starting right now. Again, I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you both."

His apology and gifts delivered, Sam took his leave. Sho just stood there, still stunned. He dropped the pictures. Judai looked at the bottle of medicine in his hand, figuring that this was probably one case where the cure couldn't possibly be worse than the disease.

"Well, he's right. This flu stinks. So, how much of this do I take, anyway...?"

As he read the directions, Sho stood there like a statue, apparently trying to do an impression of a Venus Flytrap.

* * *

Johan, meanwhile, had found Kathleen. Before he could say anything about Judai, Sam walked over and handed him a copy of the school's newspaper for the day, saying the front page was an "apology gift." When Johan saw the headline—and the picture that accompanied the article—he was stunned. Kathleen, looking over his shoulder at the front page, gaped.

"Kathleen... Is that what I think it is...?" Johan asked, needing confirmation that he wasn't hallucinating. "Sam in a-a dress...?"

The picture on the page showed Sam in a red party dress and makeup. He wore red, high-heeled sandals, a red ribbon in his hair, and a couple of pieces of gold jewelry, one of which was a heart-shaped locket. He was smiling flirtatiously in the picture, as if cross-dressing were a normal part of his life.

"Oh, my gosh," Kathleen said, skimming the article. "He did that all _day_ yesterday?"

Johan stared, stunned, at one word in the article. "...Samantha?"

* * *

In Asuka's classroom, Manjoume was just as stunned. An Ojama Black stood before the class—or, rather, Sam in an Ojama Black costume. Manjoume wasn't the only one who was caught off guard...the whole class was gaping at the life-size Ojama.

"OjamaSam!?" Manjoume asked, gaping, when Sam introduced himself by that name. "What the hell!?"

"So, what do ya think?" Sam asked. "Ojama Black sure suits me, huh?"

"Okay, just what the hell are you up to now, ya little brat!?" Manjoume demanded.

"I thought you might like to see a _real_ Ojama fool," was Sam's answer. "It's my gift to you, Thunder, sir." He went and stood front and center, spreading his arms out and grinning as he said, "So, who thinks I look awesome in this!? I'm just like Ojamanjoume now! ALL my dreams have been realized now!"

The class laughed.

"Sam! What are you up to now!?" Asuka demanded as Manjoume gaped, not sure what to make of that.

Sam turned to Asuka and said, "I'm sorry for interrupting, Miss Tenjoin, but the timing was just right. Anyway, I want to give you a gift, too."

"A gift? What gift?"

"Sorry, Miss Tenjoin. It's not quite ready yet. But tomorrow, it should be, so please wear this and meet me at the lake near the mountains. I'll give you your apology gift there." He handed Asuka a box, then left, the other students still laughing in the background.

Asuka cautiously peeked inside the box and gasped when she saw the contents.

"Sam! Wait!" she called after him. "What's this all about!?"

Manjoume looked at her and crossed his arms. "Sheesh! What's he up to, now!?"

Asuka didn't have an answer—she just stared at the box Sam had given her, stunned.

* * *

The medicine Sam had given Judai really did work. Judai was out of the infirmary by the next morning, and Sam stopped by and gave him a similar message to that he'd given Asuka, as well as another box, before rushing off to class. Judai didn't know what to make of it, and he still didn't have a clue when he and Sho met up with Johan and Manjoume near the end of the school day to wait for Asuka. The four shared stories about what Sam had been doing, and Johan and Manjoume weren't too happy when they heard what Sam had done that morning involving their still-sick friend.

"Okay," Johan said. "So, any idea what he's doing now?"

"That's what I wanna know!" Manjoume said. Silently, he added, _He said almost the same thing to Tenjoin-kun! Something's up. And what's in those dumb boxes, anyway!?_

"Relax, guys," Judai said. "Whatever it is, it's harmless."

"Are you sure?" Sho asked for the hundredth time that day. "He's been acting kinda weird lately. What if all of this is just another of his elaborate schemes? Including that flu medicine! Should you really be taking it!? Who knows what it's doing to you!?"

Granted, Judai looked better, and he seemed to be feeling better, but that didn't mean that Sho trusted anything from Sam at all.

"I trust him," Judai said. " We've reached an understanding."

"Hmph. Or so you _think_, at least." Muttering, Manjoume added, "He's being reckless, again. Some things never change."

That's when Sam came over and said, "Sorry, guys. Miss Tenjoin won't be joining you today. She had something else to do, so she rushed home."

Manjoume raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "Oh, really? And why are _you_ telling us this?"

"Miss Tenjoin told me to tell you," he answered. "Anyway, Judai, that surprise I was talking about should be ready in about an hour. You should probably get ready soon."

As the boy ran off, Manjoume called, "HEY! WE'RE NOT DONE YET! GET BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE—" He ran after the boy.

Sho stared after Sam for a moment before saying, "Aniki...now I'm worried..."

"Come on, Sho! You've gotta have a little bit of faith in people. Sam's not the devil or anything. He's just a misunderstood kid."

Johan asked, "So, what are you gonna do, then?"

"I'm going to see what this 'surprise' is," Judai answered as he headed back to his room to get ready.

* * *

An hour later, Asuka headed out to the lake she had shown Judai earlier. _I wonder why Sam wanted me to wear this thing? I hope Judai was right_, she thought.

As it turns out, the box had contained an outfit. When she opened it, she found a short, red dress, white elbow-length gloves, red heels, and a rose to wear in her hair.

Dressed like she was going to a fancy restaurant, she was shocked when she got to the lake to find Sam dressed like a waiter. A table had been set out by the lake, set for two. There was a grill nearby, with another student standing by dressed as a chef. Heck, the band was even here, playing romantic music. The sun was setting, so the trees nearby were lit up with strings of white lights.

_Well, whatever he's up to, he put a lot of effort into it... And he even got other students involved._

"Ah," Sam said to her. "Good evening, ma'am. And welcome. Your table's ready for you. Please, follow me."

He escorted her to the table, pulling out a chair for her. When she sat down, he even pushed it in slightly.

"Please wait. I'll be with you shortly." With that, he walked off.

As Asuka took another look at her romantic surroundings, she started getting nervous. "W-what _is_ all this?" she wondered, getting a bad feeling.

"Ah. There you are, sir," Sam's voice said from somewhere to her left. "Your table's right over here. Please, follow me."

"Huh?" Asuka turned and blushed at the sight that greeted her.

A two-tone brunette, dressed in a suit—and looking quite handsome—was walking over with Sam. Asuka looked down at the table, even more nervous than before.

_Oh, shoot._

A date with Judai. THAT was Sam's "gift" to her.

_Sam..._

"Hey," Judai said casually. "How's it going?"

Asuka looked up slightly. "Uh, hi, Judai," she said, still blushing furiously.

"Please have a seat, sir," Sam said. "I'll be right back with your menus."

As Judai sat down, Sam walked off. Asuka was slightly stunned—and still seriously blushing.

"You look great!" Judai told her.

"Uh, thanks. You, too..." Silently, she wondered, _What is this? Why am I so nervous? It's just Judai, right?_

Sam returned and handed them a couple of strangely professional-looking menus. This kid really _had_ gone to a lot of work for this.

"Here you are," Sam said, handing them the menus. "May I recommend the Sushi Surprise? It's our house special."

"Uh, thanks, I guess," Asuka said as she glanced over the menu.

Judai flipped through briefly, then said, "I'll have that, thanks."

"An excellent choice, sir. And for the lady?"

_This is so weird_, Asuka thought. "T-the same, I guess."

Sam bowed and took the menus back. "Very good. I'll be right back with your orders," he said before walking off.

Asuka was still stunned. _What's this all about, anyway?_ she wondered. "So...Sam sure went through a lot of trouble, huh?" she asked Judai, eyeing the band and the decorations.

"Yeah, he sure did," Judai answered. "Guess this is his way of apologizing for making our lives hell for the past month." He smirked.

Asuka laughed. "Yeah. I guess. Although, a simple apology would have been enough."

Judai just shrugged. "Hey, he's a kid. What are you gonna do?"

"Yeah."

While the evening was great, Asuka still had never imagined her first date with Judai taking place at an open-air restaurant by a lake near an American school with current students of hers as the staff.

After dinner, Judai said, "You know, we've got some great music playing. Want to dance?"

Blushing, Asuka nodded and let him lead her out away from the table.

"You know, you're surprisingly good at this," Asuka commented after a little while.

Judai shrugged. "Well, my mom signed me up for ballroom dance lessons when I was a kid. I hated it, but she made me do it for a couple years. So, yeah, dancing's not that tough for me." He grinned.

Asuka laughed lightly. Judai leaned in slowly, and Asuka's lips parted. As their lips met, everything else seemed to disappear. That is, until Asuka remembered a few things: 1) The students were right there, and she was making out with Judai right there in front of them. 2) It was a school night, so the students had to get to bed. 3) Judai, while he wasn't acting like it, was still sick.

Asuka pulled away. "We should get back to the school soon, Judai," she said firmly. "You're still sick, after all, and our staff here have classes to attend tomorrow."

"Fine," Judai said reluctantly before stealing another kiss.

Asuka was blushing the whole way back to her room.


	13. Epilogue

**Here's that epilogue I mentioned! Shadgirl2 and I are working on some other stories, which will be posted as soon as the kinks get worked out and I've got time. Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX.**

The little girl ran to her father, for the hundredth time that day, her two-tone brown hair flying behind her.

"Come on, Daddy!" the child said, brown eyes filled with excitement. "Seth's party's starting, already! Can we go now!?"

Seth, her best friend as well as Sho and Junko's first child, was turning five today, and the little girl didn't want to miss her best friend's birthday party.

"Alright, alright, I'm ready," her father laughed. "Let's go, Renee."

It had been eight years since the whole insanity involving Asuka's two false alarm weddings and the fiasco at the American Duel Academy. Asuka had planned a third wedding—and this one actually happened. Now she stood by watching as Judai was harassed by their six-year-old daughter, Renee. She giggled slightly.

"She's just like you," Asuka said to Judai as Renee ran out of the room.

Judai laughed.

"Daddy!" Renee whined from down the hall. "Hurry up! We're gonna miss all the fun!"

"I'm coming, sweetheart!" Judai called to the child.

"Have fun, Renee! Remember to play nice with _all_ the other kids! Rick should be there, you know! Don't go fighting with him this time, okay?"

"Mom! I told you, Rick started it!"

"I know, dear. I just don't want him ruining your whole day again, okay?" Asuka said. Silently, she added, _He's just like his father. Way to go, Manjoume._

Renee perked up. "Okay! Don't worry, Mommy! I won't!" With that, the hyperactive little girl ran to get her coat. Judai went after her.

Asuka stood there, smiling and watching the two.

_Judai. It's hard to believe that, only a few years ago, you were gone from my life, and now... _She watched as her husband and their daughter headed out the door. _I'm glad you came back that day,_ she thought. _My life would've been nothing without you._


End file.
